ST. LOUIS — As the momentum of his swing carried him out of the batter’s box and down the first-base line, Tyler O’Neill said aloud what Cardinals fans were pleading.
“Come on baby,” he yelled. “Come on.”
A few seconds later, he was no longer yelling for a result. He was just yelling in celebration.
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O’Neill was referring to the flight of his go-ahead two-run home run, a deciding blast in the eighth inning that sealed a euphoric 3-2 win over the Padres on Saturday night. It locked up a vital series victory over a wild-card foe and cushioned the Cardinals’ lead in the wild-card standings to two games over the Reds. Yu Darvish had held St. Louis scoreless for the first seven innings and the Padres carried a 2-0 lead into the eighth, but when San Diego elected for its bullpen, the Cardinals once again found an opportunity and pounced on it.
This time it was O’Neill, the latest in a long lineage of Cardinals to play hero, who rocketed the team to its seventh straight win and ninth in its past 10 games. The Cardinals scratched their first run across in the bottom of the eighth inning when back-to-back fly balls off Emilio Pagan scored Harrison Bader to cut the deficit in half. Paul Goldschmidt worked a two-out walk to bring O’Neill to the plate. He worked a 2-2 count and fouled off a high four-seamer before Pagan elected for a cutter. But that cutter found the heart of the plate, and O’Neill stabbed it.
“I needed that one,” O’Neill said with a grin. “The team needed that one.
“That ball just has to get up. It’s got to go. It’s got to go for the boys. That’s it.”
O'NEILL TO THE PADRES' 'PEN FOR THE LEAD.
TV: Bally Sports Midwest
Stream: Bally Sports apppic.twitter.com/SVsLtZ2jHP— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) September 19, 2021
While his monstrous round-tripper will certainly live on in many memories of September lore this month, his most pivotal moment came two innings prior. Rung up for the second consecutive time on questionable calls from home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, O’Neill was frustrated with the calls and let Cuzzi know. Yet, despite his irritation, O’Neill was able to corral his emotions and walk a fine line between letting the umpire know he was displeased and not being ejected from the ballgame for it.
“That was a great job by him not getting too animated there,” Adam Wainwright said. “If we lose him right there, we probably lose the game. At that point of the game, you don’t know how many times more you’re going to come back up, but in that spot of the order, especially between (Goldschmidt) and (Nolan) Arenado, it’s just too crucial. It’s too crucial a part of the season. That was a lot of maturity by him to not get thrown out right there on some tough calls.”
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“Phil’s a good umpire,” O’Neill said. “He’s been around the league a long time. I thought a couple calls to me were off the plate, but that was his zone and I have to adjust as a player. The thing with me is I try to stay as disciplined as I can and not miss a pitch to hit.
“Just maturing. That’s it.”
Maturity is likely the biggest factor that has played into what’s shaping up to be a career year for the 26-year-old O’Neill. Throughout the year, O’Neill has been honest in his assessment that he is still learning and adjusting to the game in his first full professional season. The Cardinals front office had prized him highly as he rose through their system, and believed he had the skill set and profile to become a 40-40 player if he tweaked his offensive approach. They were encouraged by his Gold Glove-caliber defense in 2020 but wanted to see O’Neill transform into less of a two-true outcome player and more of a well-balanced prototype at the plate.
So he did. O’Neill began emphasizing a more controlled pitch selection and tapped into the Cardinals’ strategy of hitting for hard contact. In turn, he has seen his hard-hit percentage jump from 39.2 percent in 2020 to 54 percent this season. His barrel percentage (17.5 percent) and average exit velocity (93 miles per hour) rank in the 96th and 97 percentile of the sport. His strikeout rate is still high, and the team would like to see him work more walks, but they’ll surely take his career-best in average (.281) and OPS (.886), along with his 28 homers so far this season.
“He had to change some of his swing patterns and some of his approach at the plate, and what I see out of him now is a guy who is in the film room studying,” Wainwright added. “He’s got a great idea of what the pitcher is trying to do. He’s got a great idea of what he’s trying to accomplish. He’s got a good approach and he knows his strengths.
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“That’s what’s called growing up in a clubhouse right there as a complete player, and that’s exactly what he is. A complete player.”
That complete player has shown up at the right time for these soaring Cardinals. Once an afterthought for the playoffs, and written off by most, they have proved once again they were just down, never out. Much of that is due to O’Neill’s remarkable September performance. In 17 games, he’s hitting .328/.386/.719 with four doubles, seven homers and 15 RBIs. Three of those home runs have come in his past seven games. He’s making a viable bid for a second consecutive Gold Glove and making a strong case to be heavily considered as a piece of the team’s long-term future.
“You grow into this,” manager Mike Shildt said. “There’s experiences, there’s a learning curve with it. He has met everything head-on… I was really impressed by him tonight.”
“(Tyler) is a smart guy. He’s intentional about what he does, very dedicated to his craft, like our entire club pretty much. He’s taken advantage of the opportunities and experience he’s gotten and he’s made his adjustments.”
The Cardinals are building momentum for a playoff berth. After each victory, the scoreboard at Busch Stadium flashes a new slogan: Not Done Yet.
Sure, that applies to St. Louis, a team that saw itself 8 1/2 games out of the playoff contention on Aug. 10. But it also applies to O’Neill. He believes he’s just getting started.
“It’s definitely a learning curve in the big leagues,” O’Neill said. “You really have to figure out how you can combat the league and be the player that you are. I think I’m starting to come into that a little bit.”
(Photo: Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images)