What was written in pencil is now in ink. Tyler O'Neill has a place in the Cardinals’ lineup as the starting left fielder. And that’s something the Cards can feel good about as O’Neill’s fantastic spring camp winds down.
O’Neill ripped two more hits and drove in two more runs in Saturday night’s 6-4 loss to the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. He’s now 16-for-43 (.372) with 10 RBIs in the Grapefruit League.
Those numbers are nice, but it’s the quality of the at-bats -- the way O’Neill is staying on the ball and driving it to the middle of the field -- that stands out.
“It’s consistency,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s just in a good place, against lefties and righties. He’s not trying to do too much in the zone.”
The Cards’ outfield picture was jolted by the forearm injury that will keep center fielder Harrison Bader out for four to six weeks, and that reduced the intrigue of any fight for regular-season at-bats between O’Neill and Lane Thomas. But even if the Bader injury hadn’t happened, O’Neill has provided reason to believe there might be more to his impact than the defense that earned him a Gold Glove Award last season.
O’Neill had just a .173/.261/.360 slash in 157 plate appearances last year, but there were some small silver linings -- a reduced strikeout rate, an improved walk rate -- baked into those numbers. And this spring performance, though obviously not guaranteed to carry over into April, at least gives O’Neill some momentum.
“He’s worked hard for it,” Shildt said, “so congratulations to him.”
Nogowski makes his case
Even when he doesn’t get a hit or a walk, John Nogowski keeps finding ways to get on base.
On Saturday, in his lone trip to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, Nogowski scorched a ground ball to the right-hand side and hustled hard down the first-base line. Marlins second baseman Eddy Alvarez rushed his throw, and it was errant, allowing Nogowski to reach.
That continued a spring season in which the 28-year-old Nogowski’s been on base a bunch. He’s gone 11-for-29 with nine walks and only three strikeouts -- a performance very much in line with Nogowski’s reputation for good at-bats (he has a .375 on-base percentage in six career Minor League seasons).
So Nogowski has made his case. But will he make the club? Shildt wouldn’t say, exactly, but the outlook appears positive.
“He’s had a good spring, he takes a quality at-bat, he’s locked in,” Shildt said. “He’s shown the ability to do a lot of things well in this camp. Tonight, he worked and saw the ball well and put a nice stroke on it and hit it hard and was able to get on. He’s had a nice camp and we’re excited for him.”
Flaherty ready for opener
Jack Flaherty made his final appearance of the Grapefruit season in Saturday’s game. He needed 55 pitches to get through just three innings and allowed a run on three hits. But Flaherty also struck out four batters. His stuff looked sharp.
“Great pace,” Shildt said. “Was in control.”
Flaherty, looking to bounce back from the unusual schedule that led to subpar results in 2020, gets the start when the Cards open the season in Cincinnati on Thursday. The Cardinals revealed their opening rotation Saturday.
Shildt on Mike Bell
The baseball world was gutted by the news that Twins bench coach Mike Bell died Friday of kidney cancer at the age of 46. Bell came from a long line of baseball players and coaches that includes his brother David, manager of the Reds.
Shildt took a moment in his Zoom session with reporters Saturday to extend his condolences to the Bell family and to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
“I got to know Mike Bell in the Arizona Fall League, managing,” Shildt said. “If you know about the Fall League, five teams feed into one. The D-backs were one of those teams. We were on their site at Salt River Fields, and Mike Bell was farm director at the time. I got to know him and enjoyed the relationship. A quality human being, a great baseball man. It’s a sad day.”
Up next
Adam Wainwright gets his final spring tuneup when the Cardinals face Jon Lester and the Nationals at 12:05 p.m. CT in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday. The game will be broadcast for free on MLB.TV.