Major League Baseball

Tyler O'Neill making a case as baseball's most exciting young outfielder

Published Jun. 3, 2021 8:18 a.m. ET

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By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

There aren’t many baseball players that look like Tyler O’Neill.

Sure, most players are excellent athletes and in great physical condition, but uh, how many look like this?

O'Neill obviously puts in the work on his own, but some genetics are at work here, too. His father, Terry, was named Mr. Canada in 1975 as the country’s top bodybuilder:

And if you look like that, what kind of player should you probably be? One that hits huge homers, of course!

O'Neill had already garnered quite the reputation as The Super Jacked Jersey-Ripping Guy, but now he seems to be graduating to something more than that. His 12 home runs in just 36 games played (he was on the IL for a bit because of a broken finger) currently lead the St. Louis Cardinals and have matched his total from the 110 games he played in over the two seasons prior.

It took a few years for O’Neill to fully establish himself after arriving via trade from the Seattle Mariners in 2017, but he seems to finally be fulfilling the promise he once showcased as a prospect. 

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Big strong dude hits baseballs very hard and very far. Makes sense to me!

What doesn’t make sense, however, is that there also aren’t many baseball players that move like O’Neill, either. Even with the same muscle-bound physique that earned him the nickname "Popeye" in the Double-A Southern League back in 2016, O’Neill is somehow one of the fastest players in baseball.

He sits near the top of the Sprint Speed leaderboard among players far leaner and lankier than O’Neill would ever want to be. And yet, there he is, just as fast. It’s staggering.

So, what’s the catch?

Shouldn’t a player that strong and that fast be a superstar already? There is still one major hole in his profile. Last week, I wrote about Max Muncy and his apparent superpower of not swinging at balls out of the strike zone. O’Neill checks in on the opposite end of the spectrum, swinging at 34.6% of the pitches he sees out of the zone. That mark is well above-average, but the bigger issue is that on those swings he’s only making contact 42.2% of the time, the fourth-lowest in baseball ahead of only Trent Grisham, Miguel Sano, and Joey Gallo, three fellow prolific whiffers.

Oh, and he’s only walked three times all season. Yikes!

Yet even with his volatile plate discipline, it appears O’Neill’s physical gifts will allow him to continue to contribute to the Cardinals in a multitude of ways. Laugh at the 60-game Gold Gloves all you want, but his defense is clearly legit:

On a bigger level, O'Neill also has a chance to be the next great Canadian Major Leaguer. Since the turn of the century, only five Canadian position players have made the All-Star Game: Jason Bay, Russell Martin, Justin Morneau, Michael Saunders and of course, Joey Votto. As it stands now, O’Neill is in prime position to become the sixth. 

Plus, O’Neill isn’t just any ol’ Canadian ⁠— the British Columbia native has the accent to boot. If you didn’t know who was talking and merely listened to this press conference while only half paying attention, you might think it was some defenseman on the Vancouver Canucks talking about the team’s gritty effort in the third period against the Winnipeg Jets: 

He’s also got the ink, as well:

Here we have the game’s next great young outfielder: a free-swinging, moonshot-launching, bowling ball-shaped beefcake who is faster than Billy Hamilton and already has a Gold Glove before turning 26. I’ll take it! 

With his approach issues, O’Neill remains a wild card as far as how well he can maintain this blistering start to the season. Pitchers will likely begin to exploit these tendencies more aggressively, and he’ll have to adjust.

I’m fairly confident he can do it, but striking out that much and walking that little is a tough balancing act to keep up. One thing’s for sure, though: this dude is different ⁠— and that only makes me want to watch him more.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in Maryland but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.

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Tyler O'Neill

Jordan Shusterman