The Cardinals have placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day IL due to a right groin strain, the team announced. Since righty Jake Woodford was optioned to the alternate training site after yesterday’s game, the two open roster spots were filled by outfielder Lane Thomas and right-hander Johan Oviedo.
O’Neill suffered the injury during an at-bat in yesterday’s 9-5 loss to the Brewers, coming out of the batter’s box moving slowly after hitting a grounder. He was replaced in the field the next inning. Manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that O’Neill might only be out for the minimum 10 days, saying that the young outfielder received “Favorable news from an imaging standpoint….Probably a three to four day (situation) before he can get in there. We didn’t want to play short for three or four days.”
The IL stint could possibly act as something of a reset for O’Neill, who has hit only .143/.172/.286 with a league-high 14 strikeouts over his first 29 plate appearances of the 2021 season. Strikeouts have been a persistent issue during O’Neill’s four MLB seasons, and his overall production at the plate has trailed off considerably since a promising 2018 rookie season. On the plus side, O’Neill won a Gold Glove for his defensive work as the Cardinals’ regular left fielder in 2020.
O’Neill joins Harrison Bader on the 10-day IL, leaving the Cards even more short-handed in the outfield. A veteran of 52 Major League games, Thomas will join the mix along with Dylan Carlson, Justin Williams, Austin Dean, and utilityman Tommy Edman (when Edman isn’t at second base). Minor league signing Matt Szczur is also on hand at the team’s alternate training site.
Alright let’s see if Thomas wants to claim an outfield spot. Somebody has to.
Ouch. Try the new guys.
Why did they send woodford down? Fresh arms?
Placed on the IL due to too many K’s.
On MLB DL. Try Carpenter or Trade for OF.
The outfield situation in St Louis is so jacked up. ONeill is out there trying to make up for the last 3 years he’s been sitting on the bench when he shouldn’t have been. I guess that’s tough on the groin…..
You mean he’s been playing every day so far this season until now when he should be sitting on the bench if the Cardinals had any better OF options other than their starting 2B.
O’Neill has great power and plays good defense, but he’s never yet managed to hit the ball consistently at the Major League level. He’s basically the second coming of Randal Grichuk until/unless he can prove otherwise (outside of Spring Training).
Grichuk got to play. ONeill has been jerked around from day one with the organization.
Fowler started all 3 playoff games last year. All 3. If he was goof enough to start those 3 games then why was he not good enough to keep around in 2021. You can’t explain it. Nobody can.
grichuk? where you been?
Is Josh Reddick REALLY asking for that much money?
Agreed. Shoot I was thinking this before the injury. Seems like a great fit to me.
It would still take a spell for him to be “ready” for everyday play however.
Agreed. Shoot I was thinking this before the injury. Seems like a great fit to me.
I’m so glad Dipoto got Marco Gonzales for Tyler O’Niel
The Cards need 2 left handed hitting outfielders to platoon with Bader & O’Neil for that is the only way it’s going to work & after 500+ at bats for both spread over 4 seasons, I don’t know how much more evidence one needs.
Good luck finding those platoon type OF’s to compliment Bader/O’Neil however.
true. those guys dont grow on trees but were def available in the offseason.
no, they just need outfielders that can hit, whichever handed they bat
Someone needs to step into the cleanup spot and do something besides strike out. DeJong is trying to hit a 7 run HR on every pitch.
I personally know matt would love to see him get to play again in the majors, I wish he was actually able to play with the phillies when they signed him
This is just the opportunity that Lane Thomas and Austin Dean has been looking for. We need them to make the most of it now. The Cardinals find themselves with very little experience in the outfield.
it’s time to move edman to the outfield and give sosa a chance
Ponce De Leon is sort of the O’Neill of the pitching staff. The Cardinals have kept him around for a long time without giving him much opportunity. You can see the talent that makes him intriguing, but most of the time when he gets a chance he frustrates you by refusing to throw strikes. He walks batters the way O’Neill strikes out. Talent is useless without execution.
Bottom line, the outfield has not been productive for several years. This is a General Manager issue, talent evaluation. Bader? O’Neil? Is this the Cardinal way…
The good days…Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, Jim Edmonds, Ray Lankford, Willie McGee, Lonnie Smith, Jack Clark(also played first)…heck, I would take Tito Landrum.
Being optimistic with the bad series lose…Aviedo looked great…if he replaces Ponce I think the rotation is better…plus Kim is coming back…it sucked but you have to think if Aviedo starts that game it’s a different story
who is aviedo?
Agreed. He struggled last year. I was not optimistic about him being able to help this year, but he looked sharp. Cards have a way of finding pitching. I’m not worried about a couple of rough series to start the year.
As weak as our OF is on offense, the Cards real problem remains no depth in the rotation. CMart is spaced out most of the time and on the IL the rest of the time. Mikolas has been hurt most of the time since signing that extension after one good season. Waino has been hurt most of the past 5 years with the exception of one abbreviated season in 2020. It may be the Cards best option to give our BP a shot at short starts. They’ve looked a lot better than our rotation. Cap them at 4 IP and then give them at least 2 days rest. It’s either that or get DeWallet to open up his check book for some legitimate starters. Odds on that are slim.