By Rob Rains
One of the first text messages that Victor Scott II received on Tuesday after word spread that he was being called up by the Cardinals came from Vince Coleman.
Coleman has become an unofficial advisor for Scott over the last year, and the news that Scott will be the starting center fielder for the Cardinals on Thursday in Los Angeles brought back some memories for Coleman.
Coleman also was 23 years old when he was promoted to the majors a week into the 1985 season because of an injury to Willie McGee. Expected to only be in the majors briefly, Coleman instead never looked back, going on to steal 110 bases and become the NL Rookie of the Year.
“Congratulations kid,” read Coleman’s text message to Scott. “Seize the moment. Take full advantage of the opportunity. Make it hard for them to send you back. Good luck.”
Scott II had been re-assigned to the minor league camp on Saturday with Dylan Carlson named the team’s starting center field to begin the season.
But in Monday’s next-to-last pre-season game against the Cubs in Arizona, Carlson collided with Jordan Walker, tumbling to the ground, and an MRI revealed he had suffered an AC sprain in his left shoulder that will force him onto the injured list.
With Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman already injured, the Cardinals moved to bring back Scott, who tied for the minor-league lead with 94 stolen bases last year. Scott had been projected to begin the year with Triple A Memphis.
The team will have to make a roster move to add Scott to the 26-man active roster before Thursday’s game.
Scott’s promotion comes after he played only 163 career games in the minor leagues. A fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft out of West Virginia, Scott was still playing for Class A Peoria as recently as June 25 of last season before he was promoted to Double A Springfield, where he finished the season.
Manager Oli Marmol had said on Saturday in Florida that he expected Scott to be with the Cardinals at some point this season – he just didn’t know it would be about 72 hours later.
Scott got the news on Monday night that he would be flying to Phoenix early Tuesday, arriving in time to join the Cardinals for the final pre-season game against the Cubs.
Scott, wearing his new uniform number, 11, entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning, lining a single to center field, and took over in center for the rest of the game. He finished with one hit in three at-bats.
The Cardinals won the game 7-2, with Kyle Gibson allowing only one run on four hits over five innings, recording nine strikeouts.
John Mozeliak, the team’s president of baseball operations, told reporters with the team in Arizona that Carlson’s injury was expected to sideline him for several weeks.
The injury came just as Carlson finally appeared healthy after injuries short-circuited his last two seasons, including year-ending ankle surgery last September. He led the team with three homers and 13 RBIs this spring.
The first of the injured outfielders expected to return to the team is Nootbaar, who suffered two non-displaced rib fractures when he ran into an outfield wall in an early spring game. He just resumed swinging a bat this week.
Edman did not play in a game this spring as he continues to recover from off-season wrist surgery. There hasn’t been a projection on when the team expects Edman to be ready to play.
Sonny Gray, expected to be the starting pitcher on opening day, also is on the injured list because of a strained hamstring. The Cardinals are hoping he won’t miss more than a couple of starts.
Miles Mikolas will replace Gray as the opening day starter.
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