Mariners’ O’Neill Puts On A Show
PEORIA, Ariz.—Tyler O’Neill might not have been invited to big league spring training as many expected. But the young corner outfielder still made a positive impression on the organization’s new management this spring.
With the Mariners running a smaller, more veteran big league camp, O’Neill didn’t receive an invitation despite a solid 2015 season where he hit .260/.316/.558 with 32 homers and 87 RBIs at high Class A Bakersfield.
But the 20-year-old was invited to Seattle’s hitting summit in January and their select mini-camp a month before minor leaguers were scheduled to report. This allowed him to participate in live batting practices and Cactus League games with the big league team.
It was during that time when O’Neill showed his power potential. There was the home run he crushed to left-center field off Felix Hernandez in live BP.
“That went really far,” Hernandez said.
There was also his home run in a Cactus League game against the Reds. The righthanded-hitting O’Neill sent a towering shot well over the wall in right-center.
“I heard he really killed it last night,” big league manager Scott Servais said. “I wish I would have seen it, but to hit a ball that far to the opposite field is special.”
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound O’Neill appeared in 11 spring games and went 4-for-10 with five RBIs. The Mariners selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft out of high school in Maple Ridge, B.C.
O’Neill will begin the season at Double-A Jackson. Seattle hopes he continues to mature as a hitter. The team would like to see his on-base percentage climb and his pitch selectivity improve.
“He’s got special talents,” Servais said. “There is no doubt, but I think he’s learning about how to go about an at-bat. The promising thing and the most exciting thing to me was how that at-bat played out. It was deeper in the count. He worked the at-bat.”
MARINADE
• As expected, lefthander Danny Hultzen started the season on the disabled list at Jackson. He dealt with shoulder stiffness in early March and hadn’t resumed throwing.
• With Mike Zunino starting the season at Triple-A Tacoma, other catchers in the organization had to move back a level. Steve Baron, who was with Tacoma, is now at Jackson, while Tyler Marlette drops back down to Bakersfield.
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