Quartet of demoted Cardinals looking to find their footing in Memphis

The St. Louis Cardinals have stumbled to the outside of the playoff picture after a tough second half of June even after a slew of roster moves were made to provide a jolt to the lineup. Those moves were made after a quartet of major league players was sent to Memphis in order for them to find their swings and provide opportunity for those in the minors who could no longer be ignored for a promotion.

Throughout June, all of Yohel Pozo, Thomas Saggese, Victor Scott II, and Nolan Gorman were demoted to Memphis for a variety of reasons. Be it for performance or playing time necessity, the quartet are all working to return to the majors but each has their own things to work on. Regardless of what is on their checklist, consistency has to be bolded and underlined at the top of the list.

The four demoted Cardinals have a long road ahead before their return to the majors

Victor Scott II was one of the demotions that stuck out the most when it happened in early June. While it was necessary to get his bat out of the lineup, it was widely expected that VSII would have a near-everyday role for most of this rebuild season. With a .534 OPS and just nine stolen bases despite game-breaking speed, Scott was not doing enough at the major league level to warrant a starting role. When it came time for Lars Nootbaar to return to the lineup, Nathan Church's strong season meant that VSII was the odd man out.

Scott hit the ground running upon his arrival to Memphis, tallying nine hits and four stolen bases over his first six games. In seven games since, however, the center fielder has totaled just three hits while striking out 11 times with no stolen bases. Unlike the other three that took the Memphis shuttle, VSII has one of the clearer paths back to St. Louis. His return to the majors could tie directly into what happens with Nootbaar at the deadline. If Noot is to be traded, Scott could head back to center and push Church over to left.

The one who most of us hope can put it together for the good of him and the team is Nolan Gorman. Gorm's last month-plus has been difficult to watch as his strikeout rate approached 50% while his only hit this month left the yard. His path to return was different from the start as Gorman did not immediately return to Memphis, instead heading to Florida to work in the hitting lab before jumping back into game action. Early last week, Gorman finally got back into live games and the initial outcome brought pain to fans' eyes.

In his first four at-bats, the slugger struck out but finally got the bat on the ball in his fifth and final at-bat, knocking in the go-ahead run in extra innings. In his third game, Gorm hit an opposite-field home run, but he did go down on strikes twice more in that game. He has followed up that performance with taking three walks and striking out once in his next two games and hit his second homer of the week on Sunday. Blaze Jordan has played well at third since his own promotion, so there is no rush to get Gorman back to Busch Stadium.

Moving on to Thomas Saggese, the super utility player has been replaced by multiple guys. Bryan Torres has filled in across the diamond, Jose Fermin has taken advantage of his starts, and Nelson Velazquez provides pop on the bench. Saggese, a former Texas League MVP, had the potential to fill the void left by Brendan Donovan, but he has struggled to find consistent success at the major league level. He was demoted to receive everyday at-bats but the results are still not coming.

While spending most of his time at shortstop, Saggese is hitting just .226 but has found a new approach at the plate, walking more times than he has struck out for a 16.7% walk rate in 15 games. He has always been a free swinger, but he currently has less than a 20% strikeout rate for the first time as a pro. With just one extra-base hit this month, however, Saggese is going to have to provide more than a good eye to play those above him off of the major league roster.

Finally comes fan favorite third catcher Yohel Pozo. Once Jimmy Crooks improved his contact enough where he could no longer be ignored, Pozo was shipped out with Pedro Pages taking over the backup to the backup role. Pozo's spot on the roster was one that appeared up for grabs whenever a move was needed and that was the case when Crooks was recalled after a sizzling start in Memphis.

Pozo has played in 15 games since being demoted and has caught in 10 of them. This setup allows prospect Leonardo Bernal to grab some more playing time behind the dish but also still receiving time as DH and at first base. If and when Pozo returns to the majors is a big question that probably does not have a positive answer for the energetic backstop. With the Cardinals having younger and potentially more talented catchers at basically every level, Pozo may have to ride it out in Triple-A unless something drastic changes.

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