Looking at three key roster battles with one week left in camp

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals’ time in Florida wraps up this weekend, but in something of a twist, they will head to Arizona to face the rival Cubs for two more Spring Training games early next week.

The Cardinals should have their roster set for their opening series against Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the re-tooled Dodgers before heading to Arizona. Coming into camp, they figured to have little intrigue with a roster that seemed mostly set. However, injuries to Sonny Gray (hamstring strain), Tommy Edman (wrist surgery) and Lars Nootbaar (rib fractures) threw some kinks into their outfield and pitching plans and injected some drama into their roster construction.

• Cardinals' injury updates

Here’s a look at the three position battles that remain with less than a week left in Spring Training:

CF: Dylan Carlson vs. Victor Scott II
Two players who showed up to Florida with something to prove seemingly brought out the best in one another throughout Spring Training, and they did it at a time when the Cardinals desperately needed some steadiness in center field.

Carlson, who was penciled in as a reserve following a forgettable 2023 that was cut short by an ankle injury, responded with one of the team’s best performances of the spring. His grand slam on Wednesday against the Nationals gave him the team leads in homers (three) and RBIs (13) for the spring. The long days he put in over the winter working to better drive the baseball into the gaps have paid off for him this spring.

“We’re at the point in spring where you want to be feeling good and for the results to match what you’re feeling,” Carlson said. “That definitely feels good [to produce as I have], but there is a long way to go.”

Scott came to camp as something of a wild card, but he quickly showed that he belonged despite having never spent a day in Triple-A. Scott, 23, not only has hit .316 with a triple, five walks and four steals, but his defense has been phenomenal. On Wednesday, the 5-foot-10 Scott raced to the track and went high above the wall to rob a home run.

While Scott would fulfill the Cardinals' wish of prioritizing outfield defense, Carlson appears to have earned the starting slot with his stellar play.

No. 6 SP: LHP Zack Thompson vs. LHP Matthew Liberatore
With the Cardinals set to play games in each of the first eight days -- and 13 times in the first 14 days of the season -- manager Oliver Marmol has toyed with the idea of a six-man rotation.

All along, it was Thompson and Liberatore, ironically close friends and confidants, battling it out for the No. 6 starter/long reliever role. However, when Gray went down with a hamstring strain on March 4, it meant that one of the two lefthanders could be the No. 5 starter early on.

Both lefties pitched in five games while making four starts this spring. Thompson showed off his expanded arsenal on Thursday while limiting a stacked Astros lineup to just two earned runs over four innings. His 2.81 ERA in 16 innings of work showed off his improved ability to get outs in a variety of ways. Liberatore, meanwhile, has allowed four home runs and 21 hits in 15 2/3 innings while seeing his spring ERA soar to 6.32.

“I don’t have any regrets with how the spring went and I’ve tried to do everything I can to force their hand,” said Thompson, who opened Thursday’s game by striking out Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez. “At the end of the day, it’s their decision. Whether I [go] to [Triple-A] Memphis or the bullpen, I came in with the intent to be a starter and I feel like I showed that I’m capable of being a starter this year.”

Long Reliever: Andre Pallante vs. Riley O'Brien vs. Ryan Fernandez vs. Nick Robertson vs. John King
While much was made of the Cardinals' work to overhaul their starting staff, their bullpen underwent plenty of turnover as well. Newcomers Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton were set to join Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero as bullpen fixtures before Middleton -- the prized piece signed in free agency after pitching well with the Yankees last season -- strained his forearm.

Pallante, a fixture out of the Cardinals bullpen the past two seasons, seems to have staved off a challenge by developing more swing-and-miss stuff. O’Brien, who was acquired for cash in a trade with the Mariners, was the revelation of the spring for the Cards with his 98 mph fastball and wipeout slider.

Fernandez, a Rule 5 pick, has shown he’s worthy of the Cards keeping him on the roster. King pitched well late last season, but he struggled this spring, opening the door for Robertson and his improving fastball/changeup mix.