Cardinals finalize Opening Day roster as Victor Scott II wins center-field job

New York Times

23-03-2025

JUPITER, Fla. — After weeks of deliberation, the St. Louis Cardinals finally reached decisions on center field and their starting rotation and finalized their Opening Day roster.
Victor Scott II will be the Cardinals' Opening Day center fielder, manager Oli Marmol said Sunday morning. Michael Siani will serve as a fourth outfielder behind Scott, Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, and as a late-inning defensive replacement. The Cardinals will use a five-man rotation for the first three weeks of the season before switching to a six-man rotation on April 16. Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore will be the starting five to open the year. Steven Matz will serve in long relief before being placed into the six-man rotation.
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Right-handed pitcher Michael McGreevy, despite a dominant spring, will start the year with Triple-A Memphis. Infielder José Fermín, despite being told earlier in the week that he would be making the club, was the final cut. He was optioned to Memphis prior to Sunday's exhibition game. The team will not carry a backup shortstop, but will look to Brendan Donovan to fill in when Masyn Winn needs a day off.
The Cardinals bullpen to start the year: Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, JoJo Romero, Ryan Fernandez, John King, Kyle Leahy, Chris Roycroft and Matz.
'It's not perfect,' Marmol said. 'But when you talk to our guys, individually, collectively, there's an edge to them. There's a relentless type of mentality to their approach.
'I like the vibe. They're in a good spot. I like where this is headed. I like where we're at, I like the core of what we're doing right now.'
We have optioned INF José Fermín and RHP Michael McGreevy to Memphis (AAA). Non-roster INF José Barrero has been re-assigned to the Memphis roster.
LHP Zack Thompson will be placed on the Injured List effective March 24.
Our Spring Training roster now stands at 26 players.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 23, 2025
Center field was the Cardinals' biggest question entering camp. Siani, last year's incumbent, was the favorite at the start of spring due to the defensive skillset he displayed in 2024. But Scott's stellar spring forced the Cardinals' hand. In 15 Grapefruit League games, Scott hit .366/.469/.756 and showed continuous improvement defensively. Siani on the other hand struggled out of the gate and has tallied just four hits in 40 at-bats.
Even with the clear gap performance-wise, St. Louis debated internally what was best for Scott long term. Due to their commitment to ensuring playing time to players such as Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson, the Cardinals intend to platoon center field — at least to some degree. St. Louis was comfortable using Siani in that role, but was unsure if that was what's best for Scott. The organization questioned whether Scott was better served in Memphis, where he would play every day, and if splitting time in center field alongside Nootbaar would hinder his development.
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Scott made the decision easy, however, especially over the last week. He homered in exhibition games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Marmol praised his performance throughout the last few days.
'You tell someone to go work on something and he comes and does exactly that, you have to reward that,' Marmol said. '(Scott) has earned that spot. He's the center fielder, and he's going to go play. At the end of every month, we'll evaluate and sit him down, we'll have conversations, and we go from there. But this isn't a 'you got two weeks to show what you're capable of doing.' It's not that.'
Victor Scott II lets it fly! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/nPeDfqTTRw
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 19, 2025
Scott described the weight of the last week as feeling like 'an anvil' on his back.
'It's cool to be rewarded for hard work,' he said. 'It's a testament to the work I put in there during this offseason, some of the studying I've done through the course of last year. To be apple to apply it now, it's pretty cool to see.
'I know the work I've done and how to use it in game now. It's not necessarily like doing work with no intent — now it's the situation that I'm working on, how it's going to arise and how I'm going to execute in that situation. I would definitely say the word for that is prepared.'
The decision was not as easy for McGreevy — who after being one of, if not the most effective pitchers of the spring, still found himself as the odd man out of an already elongated rotation. McGreevy finished his spring with a 1.08 ERA over 16 2/3 innings, allowing just two earned runs on two solo homers. He did not walk a batter and struck out 12.
But the Cardinals could not find room to keep him with four veterans (Gray, Fedde, Mikolas and Matz) locking up spots and the club wanting to see more of Pallante and Liberatore. The lack of starting pitching depth in the minors was also a concern. With Zack Thompson (lat strain) and Drew Rom (shoulder soreness) yet to resume throwing, the options in Triple A were slim to start the year. Gordon Graceffo will be used as a starter in Memphis, but after pitching in relief for most of spring, it will take time to build him back up.
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As for using a six-man rotation of sorts and keeping Liberatore as a starter, the thinking was similar to how the organization viewed Scott.
'This allows for a little bit of flexibility where Matz is going to be stretched out and Liberatore is going to be stretched out,' Marmol said. 'You have some protection there with that six-man and McGreevy starting in Memphis. I do like that setup, but it was a hard decision.
'But Liberatore, when you tell someone to go work on something and they come back as dialed in as Libby, and making the most of every opportunity? He earned that flat out, and I wanted him to have the ability to go into St. Louis knowing that he's a starter and not the back and forth. … This isn't a try out of a couple of starts. He's going to start. Don't look over your shoulder, go be a starter, and we'll evaluate as we go.'
The Cardinals elected to use a traditional five-man rotation to start the season due to the amount of off days to open the year. St. Louis has an off day on March 28, April 3 and April 10. The team has one off day from April 11 through May 7 (April 24). That is when Matz will rejoin the rotation. The Cardinals have yet to set their rotation after Gray, who will start Opening Day on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, but based on current scheduling, Fedde and Mikolas will be lined up for the remainder of the first series.
Liberatore carded a 1.62 ERA (three earned runs over 16 and 2/3 innings) this spring after being stretched out as a starter. As the Cardinals look to fortify their internal pitching depth, presenting the 25-year-old former starting pitching prospect with one more shot made sense.
'I think the last couple of years, I've faced a lot of adversity and uncertainty regarding my role, whether I was here or in Memphis,' Liberatore said. 'I think going through that and finding a way to come out on top of that definitely gave me a lot of confidence and trust in my ability to compete at this level.'
The Cardinals will now look to configure their everyday lineup, though there will be some variety. Some roles are more obvious than others. Nolan Arenado (third base), Winn (shortstop) and Willson Contreras (first base) will be regulars at their positions. Luken Baker will be the right-handed bat off the bench — something the Cardinals lacked last year. Donovan will play every day, but will continue to bounce around the diamond. Walker will start most days and will play right field, though with the team keeping Siani as a defensive replacement, Walker could his at-bats cut down.
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The same can be said for Gorman. With Scott in center field and Walker and Nootbaar in the corners, the at-bats for Donovan, Gorman and Burleson are even more compacted. Marmol will not use a straight left-handed and right-handed platoon, but he will mix and match depending on opposing matchup. That includes splitting catching duties between Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés, varying between Donovan and Gorman at second base and Gorman and Burleson as the designated hitter. He also must ensure the players the front office has deemed most critical to evaluate this year (Nootbaar, Gorman and Walker) see as many at-bats as possible.
When asked how he'll do that, Marmol admitted the roster construction will make that difficult.
'I'm going to do my absolute best to get everybody the necessary amount of at-bats for us to know what we have at the end of the year,' Marmol said. 'These are fair questions. But we'll see what this looks like in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. But we'll have a (lineup) rotation that while we're all healthy, still gets guys at-bats.'
In a transition year where the club has said player development will be prioritized but winning games matters, too, the Cardinals have rewarded strong springs and cleared runway for players like Scott and Liberatore. They've also created a significant logjam for several others.
In a few short days, they'll have their first look at if this roster — and their plan — is sustainable.
(Top photo of Scott: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)