St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II sprinted 95 feet and almost made a spectacular catch in the third inning on Saturday night vs. the New York Yankees at Busch Stadium.
Instead, Aaron Judge recorded his first career home run against the Cardinals, and Scott injured his ankle after a midair collision with the wall. He stayed in the game but underwent an MRI later that night to determine the severity of the injury, per MLB.com’s John Denton.
“It was pretty incredible what he can do. At this point you almost expect him to do it,” Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker said of Scott’s near home run robbery, via Denton. “Man, if he had made that catch, it might have been the catch of the year with the amount of distance he had to cover to get there. But for Vic, it’s just second nature.”
But don’t give Scott a second chance at a jaw-dropping grab—even on an injured ankle. The Yankees learned that in the fifth when Scott covered 88 feet to snag a liner by third baseman Ryan McMahon that flew toward the left-center field gap.
Scott, who is tied for second among outfielders with 16 outs above average, didn’t seem to lose a step on the field, but his sprained ankle negatively impacted him on the offensive end.
“He was trying to play through it, but he felt it on one of his last swings when he was coming out of the box with the change of direction,” St. Louis manager Oli Marmol said of Scott. “Going and get it in the outfield, not so much. But the at-bat is what got him.”
The Cardinals will need to make a roster move before the series finale vs. New York on Sunday if Scott is unable to play, Marmol said. St. Louis was already shorthanded due to injured first baseman Willson Contreras (right foot contusion) and second baseman Brendan Donovan (left foot/groin soreness).