A season ago, the St. Louis Cardinals traded away Harrison Bader in exchange for Jordan Montgomery. Now, Tyler O’Neill may be the best option available for the position. However, Dylan Carlson saw some time at the position down the stretch but appears to be the favorite.
“I’d love to play center field,” O’Neill told reporters. “I’m not trying to boot anybody away from that position either, but it’s whatever they deem fit. I know they’re very analytically-driven here. I just want to be the best player that I can be. I’ve worked really hard this offseason at increasing my first-step quickness and making sure my legs can be under me. I believe I can definitely play that position if that’s where they want me.”
If the club is willing to give him a look, O’Neill may run with the position. It appears that they are giving the 27-year-old a look.
“(He’s) competing for the center field job,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “He came into camp wanting that. He came up through our minor-league system and actually profiled as a pretty good center fielder. So it’s something that he wants and he’s going to compete for and he’s going to have an opportunity to do.” O’Neill will get a chance to test himself out in competitive games before the MLB season starts, since he’s slated to play center for the Canadian team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
O’Neill, who turns 28 in June, is looking to bounce back from a dissapointing 2022 campaign. The year before (2021), though? It was excellent. He hit 34 home runs and stole 15 bases, producing a .286/.352/.560 batting line and a 144 wRC+. Defensively, he played exclusively in left field but got strong marks there, including 11 Defensive Runs Saved, four Outs Above Average and a 6.7 from Ultimate Zone Rating. With all of his production, he was deemed to be worth 5.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) per FanGraphs calcualations. That production ranked him 13th in the MLB, and ahead of guys like Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve.
One of the biggest reasons he couldn’t maintain that success, was perhaps due to his injuries a season ago. Tyler O’Neill suffered a shoulder impingment and hamstring strain, both of which, caused IL stints limiting him to just 96 games. His batting line dropped to .228/.308/.392, wRC+ of 101, with his defensive grades also slipping.
O’Neill could be more valuable in centerfield, due to the position being more challenging than a corner position. However, the two contigents that that relies on are his health and ability to be a viable center fielder. As Marmol mentioned, O’Neill came up playing center in the minors, but it wasn’t much. Playing 55 innings in High-A in 2015, 71 innings in Triple-A in 2017 and then another 50 2/3 innings at that level in 2018, the year he made his major league debut. He’s only logged 210 2/3 innings there so far, with a majority of that coming last year.
It might be hard for the Cardinals to get a read on a small sample size like that. Especially with him being hurt last season. Both DRS and OAA have him at an even zero so far, while UZR has him slightly in the positive range at 0.8.
Carlson, 24, had more center field experience in the minors, logging around 800 innings at the position in both 2018 and 2019. Since his debut, he’s played over 1,000 innings in center with solid grades, including 6 DRS and 2 OAA, though UZR has him slightly below average at -1.0. He may be a better defender, but his offense hasn’t shown the promise that O’Neills has. In 312 major league games, he’s hit 29 home runs and stolen eight bases. His .247/.323/.407 batting is just a bit above average with a 103 wRC+.
That kind of production can still be suitable for a capable defender like Carlson, however, if Tyler O’Neill earns the spot it could open up more opportunitues for the club. The Cardinals have Jordan Walker, the fourth best prospect per MLB.com. However, he started out as third baseman, and just recently started playing outfield due to Nolan Arenado having third base on lock. Walker hit over .300 in Double-A last season. The designated hitter spot may also be open due to Albert Pujols retiring, which is where Walker could slot in. That is if the Cardinals don’t view him as a capable outfielder. Though, he looks more like a corner outfielder.
At some point, the Cardinals may have a logjam. Though, it is a conventional “good problem to have.”
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