Nathan Church, who has thrived defensively and has surprised with the bat, will be officially promoted to on Tuesday, while struggling center fielder Victor Scott II was demoted to Triple-A Memphis.
Continuing to address the lack of production at the bottom of their batting order, the Cardinals are promoting center fielder Nathan Church and sending Victor Scott II to Triple-A Memphis, per sources close to the team.
Church, who has impressed both with the glove and the bat, is expected to join the club in New York where it will face the Mets over a three-game series starting Tuesday night. The move to replace the struggling Scott likely would have come sooner, but the Cardinals had to wait for Church to recover from a left shoulder strain that has bothered him since May 22 when he went on the 10-day Injury List and his three-game rehab stint with Triple-A Memphis.
KMOV first reported that Scott was being demoted, while the Belleville News-Democrat first reported that Church would be elevated for the series against the Mets. The Cardinals are expected to make the move official before Tuesday's game.
The change in center fielders comes a week after the Cards promoted Jimmy Crooks to replace struggling catcher Pedro Pages. With the return of Lars Nootbaar – who had two hits in his first game back and a game-winning homer in his second game – and the additions of Crooks and Church, the Cardinals figure to have a longer lineup that can feed JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker at the top.
Church, 25, went just 1 for 11 in Memphis during his rehab assignment, but that one hit was a homer. Church, who made his MLB debut in 2025, made the Cards’ Opening Day roster and filled in nicely in left field for a rehabilitating Lars Nootbaar (double heel surgery) while hitting .247 with five homers, 18 RBI and four stolen bases in 45 games.
Church, who was known more for his throwing arm than his glove as he was climbing through the Cardinals’ Minor League ranks, shined defensively at the big-league level. Already, he has been credited with three home run robberies in left field.
Scott continues to struggle at the plate
Scott made his MLB debut in 2024 when several center fielders went down with injuries, but he failed to stick at the big-league level because of his struggles against MLB pitching. The 25-year-old center fielder played 138 games in center field for the Cardinals in 2025 and finished Top 10 in MLB in Outs Above Average. However, he still hit just .216 with a .601 OPS and 15 doubles, five homers, 37 RBI and 34 steals in 38 tries.
This season, Scott was the Opening Day starter in center and had seven hits in his first 16 at bats (.438), giving the Cardinals hope that all his offseason work was starting to pay off. However, Scott regressed badly in April (7 for 62, .113) and May (12 for 62, .194).
Scott had a sacrifice bunt that resulted in an error and the go-ahead run in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Reds. However, he is just 4 for 15 in June, causing his average and on base percentage to dip to .194 and .276. He has added four doubles, two homers, nine RBI and nine stolen bases in 61 games this season.
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