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.