Prospect knows big chance coming
Mariners don’t want to rush Tyler O’Neill until he’s been seasoned with triple-A affiliate
Tyler O’Neill is 21 years old, on the cusp of making the major leagues and as calm as can be, it would seem.
“The goal this year? Start in triple-A and let my performance dictate my timeline to the big leagues,” the Seattle Mariners slugging outfield prospect from Maple Ridge, who was Baseball America’s double-A player of the year this past season after tearing up the Southern League for the Jackson Generals, said rather matter of factly.
“I’ve been told that I’ve moved through the system pretty quick here. I’m just trying to perform the best I can every day and let results take care of themselves.”
O’Neill has a non-roster invite to major league spring training with the Mariners, but Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto has been quoted repeatedly as saying that the club doesn’t want to rush the former B.C. Premier League Langley Blaze standout, and O’Neill is slated to start the season with their top affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.
The burly, barrel-chested O’Neill, a 2013 third-round draft by Seattle, copped Baseball America’s top honour for the minors’ second-highest level after taking a run at capturing the Southern League’s triple crown with a .293 average (fifth in the league) 24 home runs (second) and 102 runs batted in (first) for the Tennessee-based Generals in 130 regular season games. And that was despite being three years younger than the average position player in that league, according to baseball-reference.com.
Oddly enough, Baseball America’s 2015 double-A player of the year, outfielder/first baseman Max Kepler, started last season at the triple-A level for the Minnesota Twins but wound up playing 113 games with the big club, where he hit .235 with 17 home runs and 63 RBI. He’s slightly older than O’Neill, though, as he turns 24 in February.
“It’s going to be great to share the major league locker-room and experience the big league life a little bit, but I know where I’m starting,” O’Neill, a 2013 Province Head of the Class member, said of spring training. “You know and whomever else reads reports knows, and I know that at some time I’m going to be sent down. I’m going to go to triple-A and make the most of it.
“I’m really excited to be in the Northwest this season and be close to home and experience weather patterns that I had to play with growing up. I’m very optimistic. I’m excited to see what I’m going to do this year.”
With his success last season, it was easy to suggest that O’Neill merited a call-up last September to the Mariners, or at the very least a shot with Tacoma by season’s end. He says that he was “understanding,” about not finishing in triple-A and he did get to help Jackson win a league title.
“That was a really awesome experience for me and I saw a little picture of our hardware (championship ring) on Twitter so I’m excited to get that in the spring,” O’Neill said. “It’s pretty sweet.”
He’s also slated to play for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Canada is part of a pool that includes the Americans, Colombia and the Dominican Republic based out of Miami. O’Neill was part of the Canadian team that grabbed the gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
“There’s nothing better than playing for Team Canada,” said O’Neill. “Everyone has this hockey accent you do not experience on a professional ball field. I’m really excited for it.
“I’m not going to be the No. 3 stick in the batting order in the WBC (like he was at the Pan Ams). I’ll be lower down. I’m not going to have that expectation from outside on me, but I’m going to have it for myself.”
O’Neill hit .260 with 32 homers and 87 RBI in 106 regular season games with the single-A Bakersfield Blaze in 2015.
The Mariners wanted him to be more selective at the plate, and he walked 62 times last year compared to 29 the season before.