O’Neill on track for promotion
Slugger from Maple Ridge crushing the ball for triple-A Memphis Redbirds
The way things are going, opposing triple-A pitchers might be publicly pulling for Tyler O’Neill’s bigleague debut to come sooner than later.
As of Tuesday morning, the 23-year-old O’Neill, an outfielder from Maple Ridge, was leading the Pacific Coast League in home runs (6) and runs batted in (18), and he was sitting fifth in batting average (.432) after 11 games with the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds, the top affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the entire minor leagues, he was tied for tops in long balls to start the day with fellow Canadian Josh Naylor, a first baseman from Mississauga, Ont., who is with the San Diego Padres’ double-A team in San Antonio, Texas.
O’Neill trailed only Juan Soto, an outfielder with the Washington Nationals’ Single-A team in Hagerstown, Md., in RBIs.
The power-packed O’Neill hit 31 homers and drove in 95 last season in triple-A and word out of the Cardinals’ camp was that he would duel with Harrison Bader, 23, for the team’s reserve outfielder spot in spring training. O’Neill experienced some nagging injuries and was demoted in early March.
“Injuries held me back during spring,” O’Neill said, “but spring is spring. It’s to get guys back into a groove before the season starts. Unfortunately mine was cut short, but I’m keeping my sights forward on the big picture and what’s ahead.
“I learned a lot last year in triple-A. It’s a different game from double-A in terms of how you’re pitched and positioned against. I’ve made strides. I intend to keep it rolling.”
O’Neill said he hasn’t spoken to anyone from the St. Louis organization regarding possible timelines for a promotion, and his plan is to “just keep doing my thing and let results take care of themselves.”
Speculation from the St. Louis media is that the Cardinals want the muscle-bound 5-foot11, 210-pound O’Neill to get regular playing time in triple-A rather than spot duty off the bench in the majors, so they’ll keep him in Memphis for the time being at least.
The Cardinals were 9-7 heading into play Tuesday, with an everyday outfield featuring Tommy Pham, 30, playing centre between Marcell Ozuna, 27, and Dexter Fowler, 32.
Pham (.322, 2 HR, 5 RBI) and Ozuna (.288, 2 HR, 10 RBI) were off to decent starts as of Tuesday morning. Fowler (.200, 2 HR, 6 RBI) has struggled so far but the team isn’t about to
panic over a veteran they signed as a free agent in December 2016 to a five-year, US$82.5 million deal.
Bader, who was reassigned to Memphis for a time but then recalled, was hitting .188 (3-for-16) in nine games as of Tuesday morning.
O’Neill was named the Cardinals’ fourth-best prospect and 94th overall in the minors by mlb.com going into the season.
There are two B.C. products currently on major league rosters in Ladner southpaw James Paxton, who is pitching for the Seattle Mariners, and Victoria right-hander Nick Pivetta, who is with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Victoria outfielder Michael Saunders, who saw duty with both the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays last season, and Burnaby outfielder Jim Adduci, who played with the Detroit Tigers last year as well, were the most recent B.C.born position players to suit up in the majors.
Saunders, 31, is playing for the Norfolk (Va.) Tides, the Baltimore Orioles’ triple-A affiliate.
Adduci, 32, is with the Toledo (Ohio) Mud Hens, the Detroit Tigers’ triple-A affiliate. He’s the son of former major-leaguer Jim Adduci and was born here when his father was playing for the Vancouver Canadians. He grew up in the U.S.
O’Neill was a third-round pick of the Mariners in the 2013 June amateur draft after hitting .587, with
eight home runs and 49 RBIs, for B.C. Premier League’s Langley Blaze in 19 regular-season games that season.
Seattle traded O’Neill to the Cardinals last July for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales, a 2013 first rounder who missed the entire 2016 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. The 26-year-old Gonzaga University product is currently in the M’s starting rotation.
O’Neill’s detractors wonder if he’ll
make enough contact at the bigleague level. He hit .293 in Double-A in 2016, to go with 24 homers and 102 RBIs, but his average dipped to .246 last season in 93 games with the Tacoma (Wash.) Rainiers and then 37 with the Redbirds after the trade. He had 151 strikeouts in the 130 combined games.
His numbers were hampered by a .174 (15-for-86) April with Tacoma.
He had 10 strikeouts through 11 games this season.
There have also been concerns that his time in the weight room will lead to injuries.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when O’Neill was demoted to Memphis in March: “He said he had fought his whole life to dispel the theory that a physique like his is all muscle-bound. …. I don’t know if that’s fair or not. We’ve got guys in here with zero muscle mass at all and they pull stuff.”