Victor Scott II is on the Cardinals' Opening Day roster for a second straight year, but this time around, he feels much better prepared to hit MLB pitching following an offseason of work and an impressive Spring Training.

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter.

It’s almost Opening Day, with the excitement and promise of a new season radiating throughout the sport and beyond.

As if he hadn’t already stated a strong enough case as to why he deserved to make the Cardinals' Opening Day roster, Victor Scott II further showed off his massive improvements as a hitter by smashing a two-run home run off Astros All-Star left-hander Framber Valdez on.

Coverage includes audio and video clips, interviews, statistics, schedules and exclusive stories.

Coverage includes audio and video clips, interviews, statistics, schedules and exclusive stories.

By most accounts, Masyn Winn had a stellar, if not spectacular, rookie season by evolving into one of MLB’s best two-strike hitters while also showing himself to be arguably the most defensively dynamic shortstop in the game.