41 Tyler O'Neill LF

O'Neill was recently cited by assistant coach Willie McGee for, among other traits, his underrated speed, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "He can run, man," McGee said. "I didn't know he was that quick. He's right up there in the league with all the rest of them from home to first."

McGee, whose responsibilities include coaching the team's outfielders, recently provided his assessment of several of his charges from his home in San Francisco. Regarding O'Neill, who's had some struggles making consistent contact during his first two big-league stints, McGee emphasizes the tools are far from lacking, noting the 24-year-old is "a lot better than what he's shown." The once-fleet-footed outfielder also notes the key to O'Neill taking the next step in his development is a more relaxed approach, theorizing that if and when the slugger settles into an everyday role, his ample natural abilities will shine through. However, job security was potentially an issue for O'Neill when spring training was suspended, as he'd hit just .219 (7-for-32) during Grapefruit League play and had seen Lane Thomas seemingly close the gap in a bid for the starting left field job.

O'Neill may have been close to being overtaken by Lane Thomas for the starting left field job when spring training was suspended, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The burly outfielder had opened spring training hot at the plate, slugging two home runs over his first five Grapefruit League games. However, Frederickson notes that by the time play was paused, Thomas had out-homered O'Neill by a 3-2 margin and also had a 40-point advantage in on-base percentage. O'Neill was hitting just .219 (7-for-32) over 13 exhibition contests by the time spring training was suspended, and the aforementioned pair of homers he launched early marked the only times he left the yard during the spring slate. Frederickson does add that he believes O'Neill will still get the nod if the battle is deemed close enough by manager Mike Shildt, as the team remains very high on the slugger's upside.

O'Neill is hitting .308 (4-for-13) with two home runs and three RBI over his first five Grapefruit League games heading into Tuesday's action.

The slugging outfielder went deep Sunday against the Astros for his second round tripper of the exhibition slate and is off to a good start in terms of making a case for the starting job in left field. O'Neill was hampered by a wrist injury late last season, but he generated a solid .262/.311/.411 line with six doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI, 10 walks and 18 runs across 151 plate appearances in 2019 during what was his second big-league tour of duty. He has formidable competition in the form of surging prospect Dylan Carlson, but given his prodigious power and past major-league experience, O'Neill looks like the favorite for a starting job at this point in the spring.

O'Neill (wrist) was activated off the 10-day injured list Friday.

O'Neill landed on the shelf with a left wrist strain at the start of August and will rejoin the Cardinals after being sidelined for nearly a full month. The 24-year-old has a .279/.316/.434 slash line in 46 games and figures to mostly work as the fourth outfielder for the stretch run.

O'Neill (wrist) went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs overall while playing eight innings in right field during Double-A Springfield's loss to Frisco on Tuesday.

O'Neill continued his successful sojourn through the minors with Tuesday's multi-hit effort. The slugger has hit safely in all five rehab games, and given the power he displayed versus Frisco, appears to be on the verge of activation.

O'Neill (wrist) went 1-for-5 with a double while playing 10 innings in right field during Double-A Springfield's extra-inning loss to Frisco on Monday.

O'Neill has now played back-to-back full games on defense, with the first coming at Triple-A Memphis on Sunday. The 24-year-old has hit safely in all four of his rehab games thus far and appears to have his wrist near full strength given his recent level of participation.

O'Neill (wrist) is 2-for-6 with three walks and a run over his last two rehab games with Triple-A Memphis.

O'Neill worked up to playing a full game in left field Saturday, an important step in his quest for activation. The slugging outfielder is slated to remain with the Redbirds until his recovering wrist is back to normal, but early returns appear to indicate he's quickly drawing closer to that benchmark.

O'Neill (wrist) went 1-for-3 while playing six innings in left field during Triple-A Memphis' win over Round Rock on Wednesday.

O'Neill suited up for the first of what is expected to be several rehab games with the Redbirds. The recovering outfielder is projected to work up to playing a full game in the field before activation, but given that a wrist injury particularly affects a player's swing, he'll also need to log sufficient at-bats to feel comfortable before a return to the big-league club comes to pass.

O'Neill (wrist) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

O'Neill was set to embark on a rehab assignment this week after ramping up his pregame activity level since Monday, and that development will come to pass in relatively prompt fashion. O'Neill's stay down on the farm could extend through the end of August, which would leave him positioned to serve as one of several expected additions to the major-league club when rosters expand at the beginning of September.

O'Neill (wrist) increased his pregame activity level Monday and is on track to begin a rehab assignment later in the week, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

O'Neill's recovery has been a bit more extended than first projected. However, he now appears on the verge of heading out to Triple-A Memphis for a rehab assignment, which could begin as early as Tuesday. O'Neill was able to participate in a full batting practice prior to the Cardinals' series opener versus the Brewers on Monday.

O'Neill (wrist) has a chance to be activated from the injured list at some point during this coming weekend, the Associated Press reports. "I don't want to guarantee it," manager Mike Shildt said. "It's a combination of pain tolerance and grip, getting the pain tolerance and inflammation down."

O'Neill recently received an injection in his wrist, which was expected to take full effect by the earlier part of this week. The slugging outfielder conceivably has a chance to play in at least one minor-league rehab game and still be activated during this coming weekend, but as Shildt stated, it will come down to how well O'Neill continues to recover.

O'Neill recently received an injection in his left wrist and is expected to head out on a brief rehab assignment early in the week, the Associated Press reports.

O'Neill is eligible to return as early as Sunday, but he clearly won't be back in action at the big-league level until the end of the week at the earliest. Manager Mike Shildt explained Saturday that the injection should take full effect by Monday or Tuesday, at which point O'Neill would head to a to-be-determined minor-league affiliate for at least a couple of rehab games.

O'Neill is in St. Louis getting treatment for his left wrist strain and hopes to get some rehab games in before a return from the injured list, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Manager Mike Shildt has been receiving positive feedback on O'Neill while the Cardinals are on their road trip. O'Neill was placed on the injured list retroactive to Aug. 1, so he'd be ready to return as soon as next Sunday against the Pirates. Shildt would like to see O'Neill get some rehab at-bats in prior to then, but he also emphasizes the team isn't going to prioritize that over his recovery process.

O'Neill landed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist strain Saturday.

O'Neill sat Thursday against the Cubs with what was originally described as a minor hand injury, but the original diagnosis and severity were apparently both incorrect. The move clears a spot for Marcell Ozuna's return from a pair of broken fingers. Ozuna's presence will seemingly cut into O'Neill's playing time once he's healthy again, though the latter's .279/.316/.434 season slash line should still be decent enough to earn him some at-bats.

O'Neill was scratched from Thursday's lineup against the Cubs with a minor hand injury, Jim Hayes of FOX Sports Midwest reports.

The injury isn't thought to be anything overly serious, but the Cardinals will take advantage of Friday's off day to give O'Neill a pair of days to rest and recover. Yairo Munoz is starting in left field and hitting sixth in this one.

O'Neill is not in the lineup Thursday against the Cubs.

O'Neill will head to the bench after starting the past five games and going 5-for-16 (.313) with a 3:2 BB:K. Yairo Munoz is starting in left field and hitting sixth in his place Thursday.

O'Neill is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Pirates.

After going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two steals in Wednesday's 14-8 win, Yairo Munoz will be rewarded with a fifth consecutive start. O'Neill will head to the bench for a second straight game to clear a spot for Munoz, who could unseat O'Neill for an everyday role in the outfield if he continues to thrive at the dish.

O'Neill is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Pirates.

O'Neill will cede left-field duties to Yairo Munoz, ending a streak of 11 consecutive starts for the 24-year-old. After slugging four home runs in the first five of those starts, O'Neill went 4-for-26 with no extra-base hits and eight strikeouts in the subsequent six games. Despite the slump, O'Neill still looks like he'll act as the Cardinals' primary left fielder until Marcell Ozuna (finger) returns from the 10-day injured list.

O'Neill went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a solo home run in a win over the Pirates on Wednesday.

When the promising slugger was recalled from Triple-A Memphis on June 29, the hope was he was ready to take the next step in his big-league development. O'Neill promptly went 1-for-8 over his first two games back, with six of those outs disappointingly coming on strikeouts. While that seemed to portend a continuation of the contact issues that have plagued him thus far in his professional career, O'Neill has done a dramatic about-face since that first pair of contests, going .400 with seven extra-base hits (three doubles, four home runs), 11 RBI, two walks and eight runs. His 28.6 percent strikeout rate during those 42 plate appearances is still elevated, but it's actually a fairly significant improvement over O'Neill's first big-league stint of 2019 (March 28 to May 2), when he whiffed at a 46.2 percent clip.

O'Neill went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, two runs and four RBI to help the Cardinals to a 7-0 victory over the Pirates on Monday.

Th 24-year-old carried the offensive load on a day the Cardinals got a complete-game shutout from Miles Mikolas, driving in four of his team's seven runs and cranking his fourth home run of the season with a two-run shot in the fifth inning off Joe Musgrove. O'Neill is now slashing .295/.329/.513 over 78 at-bats and should continue to see regular at-bats in the short term with Marcell Ozuna (finger) on the injured list.