4. Tyler O’Neill, OF
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 6/22/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: AAA Tacoma Rainiers, AAA Memphis Redbirds
2017 Stats: .246/.321/.499, 557 PA, 31 HR, 14 SB, 54/151 BB/K
Info: The son of a bodybuilder, O’Neill has been known for two things in his minor league career – his well-defined arms and smashing baseballs. O’Neill has incredible power, hitting his 100th minor league home run in his 5th minor league season, including 55 over the last two years in the upper minors.
O’Neill has been known for two things in his minor league career – his well-defined arms and smashing baseballs
O’Neill has double-plus power with incredible bat speed, but he also knows he has that bat speed and power, and can lean into it too far, which hurts his ability to cover the plate, leading to a lower average and higher strikeouts than he would necessarily be expected to with his bat speed and ability to barrel balls.
Though he does swing plenty and miss, O’Neill knows the strike zone well enough to take a walk, posting near or above 10% walk rates through the minors. He’s also a surprisingly good athlete, with average to above-average raw speed, able to play all three outfield positions, though his fringe-plus arm plays best in right field.
O’Neill will likely be headed to AAA in 2018 until there is a spot in the St. Louis Cardinals outfield for his booming bat.
3. Jack Flaherty, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 10/15/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: AA Springfield Cardinals, AAA Memphis Redbirds, MLB St. Louis Cardinals
2017 Stats: Minors: 25 GS, 148 2/3 IP, 2.18 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 6% BB, 25.% K; Majors: 6 G, 5 GS, 21 1/3 IP, 6.33 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 10.6% BB, 21.3% K
Info: Flaherty graduated from the same high school as fellow first round pitchers Max Fried and Lucas Giolito, though he was seen as much more of a project with a good frame when he came out of high school with his wide shoulders and 6’4″ height.
The St. Louis Cardinals took Flaherty at the back of the first round in 2014 and saw him develop slowly until 2017, when a velocity jump came along with a physical gain, allowing him to add 2-3 MPH to his sitting velocity, and he scaled up the upper minors to the majors all in one season.
Flaherty’s fastball works in the 93-95 range with weight and late wiggle low in the zone. He pairs that with an above-average slider that has hard, sharp movement that drew swing and miss. He has a sharp-breaking curve that works as a second breaking pitch, but that he can struggle with the feel on.
Flaherty’s change doesn’t have a lot of velocity separation, but he gets excellent arm deception and movement on the pitch, however, it can flatten out when he overthrows the pitch, and it’s an inconsistent pitch in spite of some of the best change movement in the minors.
His quick major league look gave an idea of what happens with Flaherty when he loses his location as he began aiming his fastball and got hit hard. He will be a favorite for a rotation spot with the St. Louis Cardinals out of spring training in 2018 and will hope to tick up his location to improve his performance.
Next: #1 and #2