Victor Scott II’s winter stint in the Dominican Republic has done little to change the direction of his Cardinals career.
Scott headed to the Dominican Professional Baseball League, hoping to keep working on his swing and show that the changes he has made could translate in games. Instead, his run ended after 12 games, and the numbers never moved in the right direction. He hit .129/.289/.161 in LIDOM, well short of the .193 batting average he carried in the majors.
Victor Scott has concluded his participation in LIDOM
- Redbird Farmhands (@RedbirdFarmhand) November 3, 2026
For Scott, the trip was supposed to be a chance to get back in good standing with St. Louis after a rough start to his big league career.
That has not happened. His offensive struggles have followed him from the majors to Triple-A and now to winter ball, and the latest chapter only reinforces how little progress has shown up in actual games.
The Cardinals brought up the 23-year-old at the start of the 2024 season because of spring training injuries, even though he had not yet reached Triple-A. That kind of leap is usually reserved for prospects with more advanced bats, and Scott’s first taste of the majors looked every bit like a rushed assignment. He played 53 games and finished his debut season with a .179 average.
The hope was that defense could carry him. Scott has never been known as a bat-first player, so the Cardinals needed him to provide enough value with the glove to stick in the lineup.
In 2025, he got a much longer look - 138 games - and while the season was better, he still came in 25% below league average by wRC+ even with 34 stolen bases. His defense remained solid, and that was enough to keep him in center field to open the 2026 season.
But the bat never caught up. Scott was hitting well under .200 before June, and the Cardinals eventually sent him to Memphis.
Even after more work on his swing, the production did not come. When he returned to St.
Louis, it was in a limited role as a defensive replacement or pinch runner.
Now Nathan Church is the incumbent in center field heading into 2027, and that shift matters. With Church getting the reps, continued organizational praise for him, and a strong group of center field prospects in the system, Scott’s brief time in the Dominican may have been the last push before the Cardinals move on.
His work ethic has not been the issue - he was posting videos of swing work at Driveline before going overseas - but the results have not followed. For a Cardinals club that does not have much use for a defensive specialist, Scott could end up as a non-tender candidate and playing next season in another organization.
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