St. Louis Cardinals News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Sep 13, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II (11) hits a sacrifice fly to drive in a run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Cardinals Speedy Outfielder Has 'Player to Watch' Status

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Feb 11, 2026 8:18 AM ET

The perception of the St. Louis Cardinals is going to shift pretty quickly if the team's young core can take a step forward in 2026.

With Spring Training just about here for the club, the Cardinals are viewed as a team with upside due to all of the young talent, but not a team that is going to go out and push the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series this season.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

The Cardinals spent the offseason trading veterans away in order to open up spots on the roster for younger guys and also bring a stockpile of young pitching to town. The Cardinals may not call it a rebuild, but Chaim Bloom arguably is handling this period for the club the right way. If St. Louis can hit on a couple of the pitchers that came back in the offseason deals, the club could be in a good place in the near future. On the position player side of things, there is young talent in town that very well could help this team into the future.

The Cardinals have a lot of piece to be excited about

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Guys like Masyn Winn, Iván Herrera, JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson have gotten the most buzz for the team. But they aren't going to be the only guys to watch this spring. In fact, ESPN's Alden Gonzalez floated Victor Scott II as the "player to watch" this spring for St. Louis.

"St. Louis Cardinals: CF Victor Scott II," Gonzalez wrote. "Scott was a fifth-round pick out of West Virginia in 2022. Within 20 months, he was in the big leagues. And though some prospects can rise that quickly, others need more seasoning -- which some within the Cardinals believe describes Scott. They think that, as he enters his age-25 season, there's still a lot more upside with the bat.

"On defense and baserunning alone, Scott is an extremely valuable asset. But he has slashed just .206/.283/.293 in 618 major league plate appearances. Developing into a league-average hitter could make Scott a cornerstone player at a time when the Cardinals are searching for some. They'd love for it to happen now."

The reason why it was so critical to add as much pitching as the team did, is because they have pieces that can be fixtures on a winning team on the position player side of things. Pitching wasn't at the same level. Winn, Herrera and Burleson already have shown what the ycan do. Wetherholt's time is coming.

Scott arguably is the most underrated position player on the team in general. This is a guy who is 24 years old and was in the 99th percentile in outs above average in 2026 along with the 100th percentile in sprint speed, 94th percentile in baserunning value and 96th percentile in fielding run value. The 2025 season was his first full campaign in the majors and he slashed .216/.305/.296 with five homers, 37 RBIs and 34 stolen bases in 138 games played.

Again, he is just 24 years old. If he can stay healthy, there's a real chance that he's making a case for himself as the best defensive center fielder in the National League by the end of the 2026 season. If he can take his offense up a notch, we're talking about an All-Star-level player.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: