Few prospects have received more attention than Oscar Taveras over the past few years.
The Cardinals’ farmhand was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in baseball before the 2013 season and the No. 3 prospect before the 2014 season. Baseball Prospectus had him No. 2 heading into 2013 and No. 3 heading into 2014.
So, yes, his arrival in the big leagues has been highly anticipated.
On Friday night, Taveras finally got the promotion he’s been waiting for. St. Louis fans would probably tell you it’s long overdue, but regardless, he’s in the bigs now. (UPDATE: He hit a home run in his second big-league at-bat. Nice debut).
The Cardinals made the move after they learned first baseman Matt Adams would be out with a calf strain for at least another week. He's been placed on the disabled list. Allen Craig will move from right field to first, and Taveras and fellow rookie Randall Grichuk, who was also called up Friday, will slide into the outfield mix along with Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos in center and right. Matt Holliday, of course, will remain the everyday left fielder.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said before Saturday’s game that Taveras would get his opportunities, which makes sense for both his continued development—the team wants him to get regular at-bats instead of spot starts—and to help a sporadic Cardinals offense.
Matheny calls Taveras "a contagious player because of bat." He's an "infectious talent." Going to get a couple weeks "to see what he can do"
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 31, 2014Taveras was hitting .325 at Triple-A Memphis, with seven homers, 15 doubles, 40 RBIs and an .897 OPS. It’s yet another successful stop along the minor-league train.
In his age 18 season of 2010, with two rookie-level teams, Taveras hit .303. In his age 19 season, he hit .386 in Single-A. In his age 20 season, at Double-A, he hit .321 with 23 homers and 94 RBIs. In his age 21 season, which was hampered by a lingering ankle injury, he still managed to hit .306 at Triple-A.
You get the point. He’s produced everywhere, and there’s no reason to think, in his age 22 season, that won’t continue at the major-league level.
