Injuries and poor hitting have plagued the St. Louis Cardinals most of the season. Now, with the Cardinals (21-28) on a hot streak, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is about to come back from injury. But that’s not exactly great news.
O’Neill, on the injured list since May 4 with a lower-back strain, is hitting just .228 (21-for-92) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBI and 12 runs scored in 99 plate appearances this season. He has struck out 34 times and stranded 47 runners this season.
In addition, O’Neill has a -.3 WAR and an abysmal wRC+ of 74. (For an average player, the standard for WAR is about two with a wRC+ of 100.)
In other words, O’Neill is a giant black hole in the lineup and statistically St. Louis’ worst outfielder. The Cardinals would be better off trading him.
In his last game, O’Neill went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Cardinals’ 11-7 loss to Angels. Since that game, the Cardinals are 10-6 with a +40 run differential and have moved from last in the NL Central to fourth place.
With Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Alec Burleson, Juan Yepez and Jordan Walker, St. Louis has better options than O’Neill for the outfield.
Walker was sent back to Triple-A due to a lack of performance, but he was hitting .274, much better than O’Neill, with the same number of home runs in 22 fewer at-bats.
Trade rumors have swirled about O’Neill, a two-time Gold Glove winner, almost the entire season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see O’Neill moved before the All-Star break.
The market for a struggling and injury-prone outfielder is not great, but someone might take a chance on a player who hit 34 home runs in 2021.
