VS II needs to start in AAA

[PadsFS07]

They need to take some chances on guys like Robert or Manoah. We don’t have a lot of high risk, high reward types and this is the perfect time to fit them in to hopefully cash in.

[PadsFS07]

Should Scott really just be given the AAA starting slot? No minor leaguer can outperform his .597 OPS and start over him in AAA?

That’s around an .800 OPS in AAA. Haha. He is only going to be 25 so there can be some improvement from this year to next too maybe even at the ML level.

[ecleme22]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

This is a very misleading post.

Though VS needs to improve, he made big strides in 2025.

Great defense, good walk rate (unlike a Billy Hamilton), 34 SBs/4CS, good WAR.

Bader had twice the WAR? Cool. He had a career year finally at 31.

[moose-and-squirrel]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

This is a very misleading post.

Though VS needs to improve, he made big strides in 2025.

Great defense, good walk rate (unlike a Billy Hamilton), 34 SBs/4CS, good WAR.

Bader had twice the WAR? Cool. He had a career year finally at 31.

he's billy hamilton in every way.. they need to find someone else

[KeeptheRamsinSTL]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

This is a very misleading post.

Though VS needs to improve, he made big strides in 2025.

Great defense, good walk rate (unlike a Billy Hamilton), 34 SBs/4CS, good WAR.

Bader had twice the WAR? Cool. He had a career year finally at 31.

he's billy hamilton in every way.. they need to find someone else

Here is a comparision of the second seasons between Scott and Hamilton. Scott wasn't caught stealing nealy as often as Hamilton but overall it looks like Hamilton was the better hitter. Scott is great in centerfield and as a runner. I think he has value on the team but maybe not as a starter unless he improves his hitting.

Statistic Victor Scott II (2025) Billy Hamilton (2014)
Games Played 138 152
At Bats 398 563
Batting Average .216 .250
Hits 86 141
Doubles 15 25
Triples 1 8
Home Runs 5 6
RBI 37 48
Stolen Bases 34 56
Caught Stealing 4 23
On-Base Percentage .305 .292
Slugging Percentage .296 .355
OPS .601 .647
OPS+ 72 84
WAR 2.2 2.6

[BrummerStealsHome]

I like VSII, but it might be time to just move on. The dude can't hit enough to warrant a spot on this club. His defense is good, but not GG material. A GG potential centerfielder has enough value to overcome a weak bat, but that's not the case here. His speed is outstanding, but he cannot generate the OBP to warrant a leadoff man role. His OPS isn't high enough to warrant a regular spot anywhere else in the batting order. His ceiling was AAA, so maybe he needs to start there as the OP said, to garner some stats and increase his trade value.

[Wattage]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

I recently found out Gorman is out of options CO.

He's either here on OD 2026 or dealt this offseason.

But agree about Walker, 100% has to be at AAA all season.

No issue w/VSII starting there either as long as there's a better option in CF (and I'm not sold Church is any better a hitter).

gorman isnt out of options. in fact hes only ever burned 1 option year and still has 2 remaining and hasnt had 5 years of mlb service either.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... /cardinals

[Wattage]

Who plays CF? Not stumping for Argo. Just asking.

Argo needs to practice bunting and slash hitting for most of his off-season hitting practice.

Sign Luis Robert Jr., on a one year deal if the Chisox decline his option. Play him in CF until Scott Jr. proves he can bunt and hit oppo singles in Memphis. Then Robert Jr. can play in LF or RF for the rest of the season or until he is traded.

LoL.

No thank you. He's worse than Argo.

can we please just call players their actual names instead of me having to figure out obscure references to know what you are talking about

[rockondlouie]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

I recently found out Gorman is out of options CO.

He's either here on OD 2026 or dealt this offseason.

But agree about Walker, 100% has to be at AAA all season.

No issue w/VSII starting there either as long as there's a better option in CF (and I'm not sold Church is any better a hitter).

gorman isnt out of options. in fact hes only ever burned 1 option year and still has 2 remaining and hasnt had 5 years of mlb service either.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... /cardinals

Here's where I got that, from Bernie's column on 10/3:

Gorman doesn’t have any minor-league options left – which could increase the possibility of a trade.

https://www.stlsportscentral.com/2025/1 ... ew-10-3-25

Thx for sharing

[scoutyjones2]

Who plays CF? Not stumping for Argo. Just asking.

Argo needs to practice bunting and slash hitting for most of his off-season hitting practice.

Sign Luis Robert Jr., on a one year deal if the Chisox decline his option. Play him in CF until Scott Jr. proves he can bunt and hit oppo singles in Memphis. Then Robert Jr. can play in LF or RF for the rest of the season or until he is traded.

LoL.

No thank you. He's worse than Argo.

can we please just call players their actual names instead of me having to figure out obscure references to know what you are talking about

No. You should know he's a rapper, and if not, you're welcome for the information.

[BrummerStealsHome]

Who plays CF? Not stumping for Argo. Just asking.

Argo needs to practice bunting and slash hitting for most of his off-season hitting practice.

Sign Luis Robert Jr., on a one year deal if the Chisox decline his option. Play him in CF until Scott Jr. proves he can bunt and hit oppo singles in Memphis. Then Robert Jr. can play in LF or RF for the rest of the season or until he is traded.

LoL.

No thank you. He's worse than Argo.

can we please just call players their actual names instead of me having to figure out obscure references to know what you are talking about

No. You should know he's a rapper, and if not, you're welcome for the information.

Why the hell should he or anyone know Scott's a rapper? And why would that information have any value? If Petro Pages is into hobby horse racing that would have no bearing on fandom.

[ClassicO]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

This is a very misleading post.

Though VS needs to improve, he made big strides in 2025.

Great defense, good walk rate (unlike a Billy Hamilton), 34 SBs/4CS, good WAR.

Bader had twice the WAR? Cool. He had a career year finally at 31.

How are facts misleading?
Maybe you mean he "made big strides" with his rap music, because he certainly did not in hitting.

Is getting to .216 average a "big stride?" Ugh, if it is.
Is an OBP going from .286 to .293 a big stride? Again, it's another slight improvement on a very long road to being respectable.
His EV and hard hit rate both went down, as did his ground ball rate (which he needs to be higher).

And nonetheless, if making a big stride means that you are now 39th out of 49 in fWAR among CFs with over 400 PAs and 48th out of 49 in hitting -- that's a big slide to being awful.

[MIDMOBIRDTWO]

He should compete for a job in spring training like every other player. The days of anointing players as stars should now be over with the departure of John Mo. That did not serve the team well in a lot of cases, especially Scott, Gorman, and Walker.

[renostl]

He should compete for a job in spring training like every other player. The days of anointing players as stars should now be over with the departure of John Mo. That did not serve the team well in a lot of cases, especially Scott, Gorman, and Walker.

All true.
Being the most of the time CF in 2025 means very little especially with a .601 OPS with only half
of it as OBP. The thing is though that .601 beat the most often RF and was a small .085 behind the LF.

CF doesn't have a lot of bats. Anything >.700 and it's top 10 territory among qualified starters. In order to get one
that rivals the Brewers or Cubs CF will cost. Do you put VS in a group of Church, Baez, Torres and take the best 2
or make a trade that might need to add a Winn or pitching prospect in order to get?

[Wattage]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

I recently found out Gorman is out of options CO.

He's either here on OD 2026 or dealt this offseason.

But agree about Walker, 100% has to be at AAA all season.

No issue w/VSII starting there either as long as there's a better option in CF (and I'm not sold Church is any better a hitter).

gorman isnt out of options. in fact hes only ever burned 1 option year and still has 2 remaining and hasnt had 5 years of mlb service either.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... /cardinals

Here's where I got that, from Bernie's column on 10/3:

Gorman doesn’t have any minor-league options left – which could increase the possibility of a trade.

https://www.stlsportscentral.com/2025/1 ... ew-10-3-25

Thx for sharing

Yeah bernie just doesnt know what hes talking about here. We added gorman to the 40 man roster in 2022. We did option him on september 19th i guess to compete in mi or league playoffs/get at bats. But ylu hVe to spend 20 days in mi ors to burn option year and there was less tham that remaining so he didnt burn one. In 2023 he was on roster whole year. He did burn an option year in 2024.

[rockondlouie]

He had a .597 OPS in his time at AAA. His MLB career slash is .206/.283/.293/.576. He's the worst-hitting CF in baseball.
His WAR is a generous 1.7 only because of his position, as CFs get a huge boost because of the position. Frickin' Bader had almost twice his WAR.
A team without hitting can't afford this guy, despite his elite defense.
If you wish to keep him, please state your reasoning.

He, Gorman, and Walker all had their runway. Send them down until they prove they can hit - and in Walker and Gorman's case - play adequate defense. (None of them has any trade value.)

I recently found out Gorman is out of options CO.

He's either here on OD 2026 or dealt this offseason.

But agree about Walker, 100% has to be at AAA all season.

No issue w/VSII starting there either as long as there's a better option in CF (and I'm not sold Church is any better a hitter).

gorman isnt out of options. in fact hes only ever burned 1 option year and still has 2 remaining and hasnt had 5 years of mlb service either.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resour ... /cardinals

Here's where I got that, from Bernie's column on 10/3:

Gorman doesn’t have any minor-league options left – which could increase the possibility of a trade.

https://www.stlsportscentral.com/2025/1 ... ew-10-3-25

Thx for sharing

Yeah bernie just doesnt know what hes talking about here. We added gorman to the 40 man roster in 2022. We did option him on september 19th i guess to compete in mi or league playoffs/get at bats. But ylu hVe to spend 20 days in mi ors to burn option year and there was less tham that remaining so he didnt burn one. In 2023 he was on roster whole year. He did burn an option year in 2024.

Thx for sharing that link, I've always been wondering about how many options a player had left and now I have a way to find it!