Prospects Get the Call: Oscar Taveras

Mar 6, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Oscar Taveras (87) hits a 2 run home run against the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report from Rob Rains of Stl Sports Page, Oscar Taveras will officially be a big leaguer Saturday. Taveras was scratched from the Memphis Redbirds during a rain delay Friday night, where he was seen packing his bags and leaving the ballpark early, a tell-tale sign of a call-up.

Taveras has been almost universally considered a top three prospect in all of baseball each of the past two seasons. He has put up a triple slash line of .325/.373/.524 in Triple-A this season, and .319/.377/.519 over parts of six minor league seasons.

The St. Louis Cardinals will play seven games in American League cities over nine games starting on Wednesday, so it was widely expected for Taveras to get called up soon given there would be an extra hitting spot in the lineup during those games.

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Matt Adams has not played in the past two games, and got just a single at-bat in the game before, and will be placed on the DL opening the roster spot for Taveras.

Taveras is as pure a hitter as there is among prospects, and could be a future batting title winner. He does have some power in the bat, but he will is not a real power hitter. His power ceiling is probably around 30 home runs, but a regular .300 hitter and 20 home runs could be a realistic expectation for his upside.

He has played the majority of his games in center field in the minors, but I don’t feel he is a long term fit in center, but would fit better in right field. He does not have great speed, but he does have an excellent first step on the ball defensively, so he could play center if the Cardinals need him to, it just wouldn’t be ideal.

He was once expected to make his big league debut in 2013, but he was hampered by an ankle injury that eventually required surgery, preventing him from making it to the big leagues. Now that he is finally getting the call, he is likely there to stay.