Oscar Taveras

Oscar Francisco Taveras (June 19, 1992 – October 26, 2014) was a Dominican-Canadian professional baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Cardinals signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Taveras made his MLB debut in 2014 after batting .321 with a .519 slugging percentage over six minor league seasons. He played all three outfield positions while spending most of the time in center field.

Taveras was a consensus top-five minor league prospect. He wielded batting skills likened to the style of former MLB outfielder Vladimir Guerrero – with a powerful and smooth, balanced stroke, Taveras successfully hit pitches well outside of the strike zone. Also similar to Guerrero, he possessed a strong and accurate throwing arm. The outfielder was the recipient of a litany of awards and won batting titles in three minor leagues, including hitting .386 for the Midwest League title in 2011.

On May 31, 2014, Taveras homered in his second at-bat in his major league debut for the Cardinals. He died in a car accident after he returned to the Dominican Republic following the 2014 season.

Early life

Taveras' father was an outfielder in the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league system. Taveras lived in Montreal from ages 12 to 16, obtaining Canadian citizenship. Afterwards, he returned to the Dominican Republic; had he stayed in Canada, he would have entered the draft after high school.

Professional career

Minor Leagues

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Taveras as an undrafted free agent on November 25, 2008 for $145,000 and assigned him to the rookie league Dominican Summer League Cardinals the next season. Although he hit just .265 with one home run (HR) and 42 runs batted in (RBI) in 65 games, Taveras earned a promotion to the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 2010. The talent of whom scouts discovered in the Dominican Republic quickly actualized, as he hit .322 with eight HR and 43 RBI in 53 games. He earned another promotion to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League in 2011, increasing his production to a .386 batting average, .444 on-base percentage (OBP) and .584 slugging percentage (SLG) with eight HR and 62 RBI in 78 games. He also earned the Midwest League batting title with the highest average in the league since 1956.

With improved play coupled with ranking as one of the league's top hitters at just age 19, Taveras began to garner notice outside the Cardinals organization. Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America named Taveras the Cardinals' third-best prospect. He was ranked 74th in all of baseball. Taveras finished the season belting 23 HR with 94 RBI and a league-leading .321 batting average with the Springfield Cardinals of the Class AA Texas League. His batting achievements helped lead the team to the Texas League championship and the conferral of Baseball America's Minor League Team of the Year award. Taveras was named the Cardinals' Minor League Player of the Year as well as the Texas League Player of the Year.

Baseball America ranked Taveras as the Cardinals best prospect and the third-best prospect in all of baseball entering 2013. MLB.com also ranked Taveras as the Cardinals number one prospect, and the number three prospect in its Top 50 Prospects. Prior to the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Taveras' agent was approached about him playing for the Canadian national baseball team. Taveras continued to play well after another promotion to the Memphis Redbirds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League; however, he was troubled by a high ankle sprain suffered on a hard slide into second base in a May 12 game and played in only 15 games after that—46 total. For the season, he finished with a .306 batting average with twelve doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI before undergoing season-ending ankle surgery in August.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals added Taveras to their 40-man roster on November 20, 2013. At the beginning of the 2014 season, MLB.com ranked him as the second-best prospect in all of MLB, behind only Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins organization. Although the team believed that his ankle was fully healed in time for the 2014 spring training, they had a difficult time getting him to fully trust the ankle in performance. A hamstring injury followed, limiting him to just six at-bats. The Cardinals optioned him to minor league camp on March 14.

On May 30, 2014, the Cardinals promoted Taveras to their MLB roster. At that point, he had been batting .325 with a .373 OBP and a .524 SLG at Memphis. Other totals included seven HR and 40 RBI in 49 games and 191 at-bats. Making his debut on the afternoon of Saturday, May 31, Taveras launched his first hit and home run in his second career at bat with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning against San Francisco Giants' starter Yusmeiro Petit. He became the youngest to hit a home run in his major league debut for the Cardinals since Eddie Morgan in 1936. It also started to rain, immediately forcing a 47-minute delay. The home run proved to the game-winning run as the Cardinals won 2–0.

Taveras hit his first MLB single the next day, June 1. When Matt Adams came off the DL June 19, the Cardinals optioned Taveras back to Memphis after batting .189 with a .225 OBP and .297 SLG in 40 PA. Despite the low rate statistics, he showed a marked ability to get contact on MLB pitching. His contact rate of 92.3% on pitches outside of the strike zone surpassed the MLB average of 65.7% for all non-pitchers. His miss rate of 2.5% on swinging strikes was significantly lower than the MLB average of 9.1%.

Exactly one month after his first call-up, June 30, the Cardinals recalled Taveras. He was batting .318 with a .502 SLG at Memphis. Taveras finished the 2014 season with a batting average of .239 in the majors. He appeared on the postseason roster for the Cardinals, and had 4 hits in 7 postseason at bats, including a home run in Game 2 of the NLCS, the only game the Cardinals won in the series.

Skill profile

Regarded as a left-handed hitting version of Vladimir Guerrero, one of Taveras' prized skills was an ability that few possess to square the bat on – and effectively hit – pitches that are out of the strike zone, much as the case was with Guerrero. Because of his bat speed and the wide range of pitch locations of which he could hit, Taveras successfully unraveled what are termed as "pitcher's pitches," which helped contribute to his high batting average. An aggressive hitter, Taveras maintains control with his smooth swing. With a wide batting stance and slight leg kick that "allows him to maintain both incredible balance and timing," he shifted his weight on his right (back) leg "before connecting with the ball with an explosive, quick swing." His combination of strong, quick hands and excellent hand–eye coordination allowed him to assert considerable bat control to make constant, square contact with the incoming pitch. With an ability to drive the ball to all fields, his power ceiling was high, projected with 25 to 30 home runs in his peak. His preparation also received high marks. Through 2013, Taveras' career minor league batting average was .320 with 45 home runs and 275 RBIs in 374 games.

Although Taveras' defensive skills were not as prodigious as his hitting abilities, he ran routes well and had solid instincts. Earlier in his professional career, he gained a reputation for concentrating too heavily on hitting at the expense of his fielding. However, Taveras worked to increased his abilities in the outfield. With a strong throwing arm, his defensive skills projected him to be a corner outfielder, particularly in right field. However, the Cardinals believed that Taveras showed the range and skill to be an effective center fielder so he began taking an apprenticeship to learn the position.

Death

On October 26, 2014, Taveras and his girlfriend died in a car accident in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.