Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch envisions Carlson mostly playing center field when he receives his expected promotion from the team's alternate training site in Springfield.

EDGE Analysis

The elite prospect is biding his time in Springfield until at least Friday, when seven days will have passed since the start of the regular season. Bringing Carlson up to the active roster at that point allows the Cardinals to not lose a year of team control, and when he does arrive, Hummel makes a case center field will likely represent the 21-year-old's best path to playing time early. Harrison Bader is currently the primary option at the position and is lauded for his defense, but after limping to a .205/.314/.366 slash in 2019, Bader owns an even more anemic .111/.273/.222 line through his first 11 plate appearances of 2020.

The Cardinals optioned Carlson to their alternate training site Thursday, Andersen Pickard of MLBDailyDish.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Carlson is very likely to be placed on the active roster sometime after the first six days of the regular season, thereby granting the Cardinals another year of team control. The outfield prospect's eventual arrival will lead manager Mike Shildt with some tough roster decisions involving Tyler O'Neill, Harrison Bader and Dexter Fowler, the projected starting outfield for St. Louis. Carlson has experience playing all three outfield spots during his time in the minors and is coming off an impressive 2019 campaign at the plate. The 21-year-old finished off last season with Triple-A Memphis and posted a .361/.418/.681 slash line with five home runs and nine RBI across 79 plate appearances.

Carlson is highly likely to be placed on the active roster sometime after the first six days of the regular season, thereby preventing the Cardinals from losing a year of team control, Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports.

EDGE Analysis

The prize prospect's highly anticipated major-league debut isn't projected for Opening Day due to this year's service-time rules, but if Carlson is officially placed on the roster more than six days into the regular season, his service-time clock won't begin ticking in 2020. The 21-year-old's eventual arrival carries the potential to make some relatively quick waves personnel-wise; Tyler O'Neill , Harrison Bader and Dexter Fowler, the projected starting outfield, all enter the season with question marks about their bats to varying degree, while Carlson has experience playing all three outfield spots during his time in the minors.

Carlson was included in the player pool that will report the Cardinals' summer camp July 1, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Carlson's status as one of the organization's elite prospects renders this move unsurprising, and it officially confirms the promising outfielder will have a legitimate opportunity to stake a claim for a spot on the 30-man Opening Day roster. However, it's worth noting that Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports Carlson could begin the regular season with a Triple-A designation as a procedural move; service-time rules in place for 2020 dictate a team could gain an extra year of control if a player spends at least seven days assigned to a minor-league team in the organization.

Carlson is considered "a lock" for the big-league club this coming regular season now that expanded rosters are strongly expected to be implemented, Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports.

EDGE Analysis

Saxon adds that the one challenge attached to getting the promising 21-year-old into the big-league ranks this season is the fact he's not on the 40-man roster. That means bringing Carlson into the fold will necessitate another player being removed from the 40-man or getting placed on the 60-day injured list. Nevertheless, it appears highly likely the organization will opt to take this step, which will give Carlson a potential head start on a big-league career that otherwise may not have begun until September at the earliest if the season had unfolded normally. Although Carlson has only logged 79 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports he's already made a significant impression on the major-league coaching staff, including former outfielder Willie McGee. "Oh, man. Hits the ball hard from both sides of the plate. Runs better than it looks,"McGee said. "Outstanding outfielder. Just a good athlete. And the most impressive thing about him is that he's a lot more mature than his age. He's ahead of the game, mentally, knowing situations."

Carlson could be one of the Cardinals' prime beneficiaries if MLB expands rosters beyond 26 players for the 2020 season, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

EDGE Analysis

The surging outfielder appeared to already be setting up a difficult choice for manager Mike Shildt and his staff due to his strong play before spring training was suspended, as he hit .313 (10-for-32) over 12 Grapefruit League contests. Carlson's primary obstacles to winning the starting left field job are the more experienced Tyler O'Neill and Lane Thomas, but the potential availability of a few extra roster spots could conceivably lead to all three players remaining at the big-league level in 2020. Gordon points out another factor in Carlson's favor, albeit one that's still purely speculative, is the possibility the minor-league season gets cancelled outright this year; such a development would seemingly increase the likelihood Carlson is kept in a setting where he can continue to further his development.

Carlson was still in contention for an Opening Day roster spot in left field when spring training was suspended, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The promising prospect's chances were helped by the recent optioning of Austin Dean and Justin Williams to Triple-A Memphis, as well as the fact he was hitting .313 (10-for-32) with three doubles, a triple, an RBI, six walks and 11 runs across 12 Grapefruit League contests. Carlson is competing with more seasoned candidates Tyler O'Neill and Lane Thomas for the spot, but the gap in experience between the 21-year-old and his pair of teammates isn't such that it's insurmountable if Carlson continues thriving during whatever ramp-up period there may eventually be to the regular season.

Carlson is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with three doubles, a triple, an RBI, five walks and nine runs over his first eight Grapefruit League games.

EDGE Analysis

Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports Carlson has played in all three outfield spots thus far in spring and impressed with his defense, while he'll enter Thursday's action having reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances. Carlson may force the Cardinals' hand if he continues wielding a similarly hot bat, although the competition for any open outfield spots figures to continue until the end of Grapefruit League play.

Carlson, who went 1-for-1 with two walks and a run in a Grapefruit League loss to the Braves on Thursday, also has a triple and double over his last five plate appearances, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

EDGE Analysis

The red-hot prospect is now hitting .455 in Grapefruit League play following Thursday's production, making a very strong early case for a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 21-year-old dominated during a brief stint at Triple-A Memphis last season, slashing .361/.418/.681 across 79 plate appearances over 18 games. Carlson was also in big-league camp until the final day last spring and got 44 at-bats under his belt against major-league arms, with that experience seemingly paying off early this year. Goold reports Carlson is under consideration to break camp with the team if he's able to outplay a multitude of other outfield candidates, but even if he starts the campaign back in Memphis, it seems highly likely he makes his Cardinals regular-season debut at some point in 2020.

Carlson received an invitation to big-league camp Friday.

EDGE Analysis

Carlson is still just 21 years old, but he could be given legitimate consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. The Cardinals can certainly play service-time games with him, as he's only appeared in 18 games at the Triple-A level, but his .292/.372/.542 slash line at the two highest levels of the minors last season suggests he's very close to big-league ready.