Cardinals: Tyler O’Neill is strong candidate to win NL MVP

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is strong candidate to win NL MVP and he began to state his case on Opening Day.

On the main FanSided page, I was asked to give my breakout candidate. I chose St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill.

That was not necessarily the boldest pick, considering that he is coming off a season in which he hit .286/.352/.560 with 34 home runs and 80 RBI. But I took it a step further: I think O’Neill has a very strong chance of winning the National League MVP award. And on Thursday, in the Cardinals’ Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, O’Neill began to state his case.

O’Neill, 26, was 2 for 3 with one home run and five RBI in a 9-0 Cardinals rout over the Pirates – and if that performance is any indication, he could be in for an absolutely monster season. Which would give the Cardinals’ already potent offense an even bigger boost, while also helping further take pressure off a pitching staff that is dealing with injuries to Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes.

He became the first Cardinals player since 1928 (Wally Roettger) to have at least five RBI on Opening Day. And after the game, talking about his performance, he pointed to his teammates: We have a lot of depth, 1-9, everyone is dangerous. You see Tommy hit a bomb today in the 9 hole – there’s nowhere to go in this lineup.”

But what makes it most dangerous is O’Neill, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. They are three franchise-altering players, with O’Neill being the player most likely to stick around long-term. The Cardinals would be smart to talk about a long-term deal with him as soon as possible, but his agent Scott Boras is known for taking his players to free agency so they can establish their values on the open market.

His price will continue to rise if his performance on Opening Day is a sign of things to come. And if it is, paired with Arenado and Goldschmidt, the Cardinals would have one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball – and also three MVP candidates in the heart of their batting order.

Pretty, pretty good.