St. Louis Cardinals: Tyler O'Neill training exclusively in center field so far

Washington Nationals v St. Louis Cardinals
Washington Nationals v St. Louis Cardinals | Joe Puetz/GettyImages

Tyler O'Neill is training in center field exclusively to this point in camp

With the St. Louis Cardinals outfield situation being as fluid as it could possibly be, Oli Marmol and his staff may be giving us some insight into how the outfield could end up shaking out with Tyler O'Neill's camp so far.

Primarily a left-fielder so far in his career, he has appeared in center field in just 27 games during his big league career. So far at camp though, O'Neill is receiving all of his outfield work there.

It's important to note that O'Neill will be playing in center field for Canada, so there is surely some truth to that training being for that as well. But with how open both John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol have talked about this outfield competition being, they are going to look at scenarios where O'Neill is the primary center fielder for the club.

It's way too early in camp to say they are even leaning in this direction, but it shows openness to it as well. That probably means they see Lars Nootbaar as one of their corner outfielders going forward, and that if O'Neill ended up in center, that Dylan Carlson would be the odd man out.

An outfield of Walker-O'Neill-Nootbaar could be scary

While I still believe in Carlson and am not quick to turn away from him as a primary outfield option, I like many others am intrigued by the potential trio of O'Neill, Nootbaar, and top prospect Jordan Walker.

Each of those three can be incredible hitters in their own right, boasting plus power that could make this Cardinals lineup even more dangerous. O'Neill and Nootbaar have already shown great ability in the field defensively as well, and Walker has the tools to be at least an above-average defender as well given some time and seasoning.

For now, this is just a scenario to consider, as there is a ton of Spring Training work and World Baseball Classic games to be played. Continue to keep an eye on the outfield situation and we'll continue to cover it here at Redbird Rants.

Schedule