With just a glance at the spring numbers, the decision for the St. Louis Cardinals to include Victor Scott II on the Opening Day roster seemed fairly obvious.
The exuberant outfielder tied for the team lead in home runs and set the pace for stolen bases during Grapefruit League play. He logged a .349/.451/.721 batting line and led all Cardinals regulars with a 1.172 OPS.
Whether these stats were sticky enough to translate to the MLB regular season was anyone's guess. But Scott had earned the opportunity to find out.
Ultimately, the Cardinals agreed—even if it wasn't such a foregone conclusion.
Scott started for the Cardinals in center field on Opening Day as St. Louis beat Minnesota 5-3, in a game that saw the Redbirds compete in every facet to pull out a winner. Scott's potential contributions at the plate weren't yet realized in an 0-for-4 day, but with so many tools in his utility belt, the 24-year-old still flashed for a dazzling moment—one that proved crucial to the game's outcome.
When Twins infielder Ty France drove a fly ball deep into the right-center field gap in the top of the sixth inning, Scott climbed on his horse, galloping 95 feet to track it down on the run.
When the next batter doubled off John King, it clarified that Scott's defensive efforts on the previous play effectively eliminated what would have been the tying run.
Victor Scott II shows off the range! pic.twitter.com/RpgLhb7vGU
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 27, 2025
From in front of his locker after the game, Scott shared that even considering the vast distance he had to cover to haul it in, leaving his feet to lay out for a dive wasn't a consideration.
“Not on that one,” Scott said confidently. He ran it down and made it look easy, effortless.
What didn't come easy was the process of forcing his way onto the roster.
Though Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol remarked before Thursday's game that he first noticed a shift in Scott’s determination and purpose dating all the way back to a conversation the pair had at the Winter Warm-Up in January, it took far longer to convince team brass that Scott was ready for the reins in center.
Eventually, his consistent display of that same fire over the duration of spring training ultimately landed Scott firmly on the roster radar.
“If you had said ‘Is Victor Scott going to make your club?' early on, I would've said probably not,” Cardinals president of baseball operations Mozeliak explained Thursday.
“If you had asked me that seven days before we broke camp, I probably would've told you probably not. So he really did earn his way onto this team, and it was great to see. Hopefully, he can build from that.”
Mozeliak’s remarks preceded Thursday's opener, in which Scott delivered that key defensive play. Cardinal starter Sonny Gray referred to Scott's catch as “a game-saver” for St. Louis.
Narratives surrounding this Cardinals team throughout the winter revolved around the notion of incoming runway for certain players whose futures need resolution.
Once and for all, the club needs to definitively find out what it has in Nolan Gorman, right? That was supposed to be the deal—but with Scott slotting into center field in Thursday's lineup, the ensuing musical chairs meant Gorman's name wasn't written.
There's no spite in it—it's just math. The Cardinals have more players they want to prioritize for playing time than they have spots in the daily batting order. Scott's presence intensifies the squeeze—it's true.
But let's remember something, here. If professional sports are still a meritocracy, that's how all of this is supposed to work.
“I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say that it doesn't,” Oliver Marmol said when asked about the arithmetic reality of Scott’s presence complicating matters for his daily lineup decisions. “Yeah, it does. But he earned it.
"Sure, it takes at-bats away from somebody, but that's the whole point of there not being a level above this one. This isn't just free opportunity. It's the damn big leagues. Like, you earn it, you run with it, and if you never look back, good for you. It's at somebody's expense, but when they get an opportunity, they’ve got to run with it, too.”
That's the path chosen by Victor Scott II.
Runway or not, here he comes.