Cards Turn to Nathan Church in Center, Option Victor Scott II to Memphis

The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Cardinals Turn to Nathan Church in Center Field, Option Victor Scott II to Memphis

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nathan Church is returning to St. Louis, while Victor Scott II has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. The move gives the Cardinals a different look in center and signals that the club is ready to see if Church can provide more consistent offensive production in a lineup that has started to take shape. Church had recently been on a rehab assignment with Memphis after landing on the injured list in late May with a left shoulder strain. (MLB.com)

Church, 25, has already shown he can hold his own at the Major League level. In 45 games with St. Louis this season, he was hitting .247/.282/.390 with five home runs, 18 RBIs, six doubles and a .672 OPS. Those are not star-level numbers, but they represent a more stable offensive profile than the Cardinals have been getting out of center field. For a club trying to stay in the thick of the National League Central race, that matters. (SI)

This is not simply about one player going up and another going down. It is about the Cardinals trying to find the right balance between defense, speed, run production and development.

Victor Scott II still brings elite speed and plus defense to the table. Nobody should pretend otherwise. His glove can change a game, his legs can pressure a defense, and his athleticism remains one of the more exciting tools in the organization. But the offensive struggles became harder to carry every day, especially with the Cardinals getting healthier and the lineup beginning to deepen around Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson and JJ Wetherholt.

For Scott, the move to Memphis should be viewed less as a punishment and more as a reset.

The Cardinals need him playing every day. They need him getting regular at-bats without the pressure of trying to fix his swing and approach at the Major League level. Memphis gives him that opportunity. He can work on driving the baseball, improving his on-base consistency, and finding more ways to use his speed as an offensive weapon instead of merely a defensive luxury.

Church gives the Cardinals a different kind of profile. He does not have Scott’s top-end speed, but he brings a more compact, contact-oriented left-handed bat with some gap power and enough defensive versatility to handle the outfield. He is not being asked to be the savior of the Cardinals’ offense. He is being asked to lengthen the lineup, make quality contact, and give St. Louis a better chance to keep innings alive.

That may not sound flashy, but winning baseball is often built on that kind of simple arithmetic.

With Nootbaar back, Walker swinging the bat like an impact middle-of-the-order threat, and Wetherholt continuing to look like a foundational piece, the Cardinals no longer have to wait quite as long on offense from the bottom of the order. Church returning gives manager Oliver Marmol another left-handed bat and gives the Cardinals a chance to make center field less of an offensive dead spot.

There is also a larger organizational message here. The Cardinals have preached development at the Major League level, and in some cases, that is exactly what they should do. But development cannot become stubbornness. At some point, results matter. Scott has a future, but the Cardinals are also trying to win games now. Church gives them a better offensive option today, and Scott gets a chance to rebuild momentum in Memphis.

That is how this move should be judged.

The door is not closed on Victor Scott II. Far from it. His defense and speed will always keep him in the conversation. But the Cardinals needed more from the position, and Nathan Church has earned another look.

For now, center field belongs to Church.

And for the Cardinals, this is a move that says they are no longer just waiting on upside.

They are looking for production.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
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Photo Credit: Nathan Church, St. Louis Cardinals | Yahoo Sports