Last week the Cardinals called up lefty center fielder Scott Hurst – a name I was barely familiar with – from the Alternate Training Site. That sparked an immediate curiosity and a question that we’ll answer below.
First, how did this happen? Hurst is living out his life-long dream because Lane Thomas’s might have just come to a spectacular and sudden end. In 2019, Thomas was a reserve outfielder and lumped in with Tyler O’Neill and Justin Williams as someone that Mo and Shildt wanted to “get a look at”.
That desire has shaped the way the Cardinals have formed their starting and depth outfield for the past few seasons.