CBN POW, Week XVI: Tyler O'Neill
By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
A year ago this week -- July 21 -- the Seattle Mariners traded OF Tyler O’Neill to the St. Louis Cardinals for Marco Gonzales.
Since then, Gonzales has gone 12-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 27 starts.
And since then, O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) has batted .294 with 13 doubles, two triples, 37 homers and 98 RBIs in only 94 games at triple-A Memphis. This week O’Neill earned Canadian Baseball Network minor league Player of the Week for Week XVI. O’Neill hit .450 (9-for-20) with six homers and nine RBIs for manager Stubby Clapp (Windsor,r Ont.) at Memphis. It was the second time he has won the CBN POW honour this season.
O’Neill shared the lead with the most hits by Canadians, along with Andrew Yerzy (North York, Ont.) 9-for-20 (.450) with a homer and five RBIs for the class-A Hillsboro Hops and OF Ben Pelletier (Varennes, Que.) who was 9-for-23 (.391) with a homer and three RBIs for the class-A Williamsport Crosscutters and former Blue Jays C Pat Borders.
How the week that was went for O’Neill:
_ Batting clean-up and playing left field, he hit a two-run homer in a 4-1 win over the Iowa Cubs at AutoZone Park in Memphis. O’Neill took reliever Alberto Baldonado out of the park in the sixth, a two-run shot for his 20th of the season.
_ Playing centre and hitting third, he doubled in a 1-0 loss to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox before 5,053 at AutoZone Park. He doubled to left, his eighth, in the third inning facing starter Aaron Wilkerson.
_ Hitting third and playing left, he singled in a 10-1 win against Colorado Springs in front of 8,008 at AutoZone Park.
_ Playing left and hitting third, he homered three times and knocked in four runs in a 7-4 Memphis victory against Colorado Springs as manager Clapp was busy flashing the “Go Deep” signal. O’Neill went deep to left centre in the first, his 21st, against Adrian Houser. Two innings later, he homered to right centre, again facing Houser, his 22nd. And in the seventh he hit his third of the night, facing Bubba Derby he hit No. 23 to left field with a man aboard.
_ Hitting third and playing left, he had three hits, including two homers and three RBIs in a 14-4 win over the Salt Lake Bees in front of 13,371 at Smith’s Ballpark. O’Neill homered to left in the first facing Luis Pena, his 24th, hit a two-run line drive homer to left in the seventh facing Eduardo Paredes and singled to left in the ninth against Jared Wilson.
Top Offensive Performances
Player Class Team AB R H HR RBI AVG
Adam Hall - A Aberdeen 13 3 6 - 1 .462
Tyler O’Neill - AAA Memphis 20 7 9 6 9 .450
Andrew Yerzy - A Hillsboro 20 4 9 1 5 .450
Daniel Pinero - A Lakeland 18 3 8 1 8 .444
Ben Pelletier - A Williamsport 23 3 9 1 3 .391
Otto Lopez - A Vancouver 16 3 6 - - .375
Dalton Pompey - AAA Buffalo 19 4 7 - 2 .368
Noah Naylor - A Greensboro 20 6 7 1 4 .350
J.D. Osborne - A Batavia 20 1 7 1 4 .350
Dustin Houle - A Carolina 10 1 3 - 1 .300
Vlad Guerrero Jr. - New Hampshire 17 1 5 1 3 .294
Josh Williams - IND White Sands 10 2 6 - 1 .600
Sebastien Boucher - IND Ottawa 25 3 8 - 1 .320
T.J. Bennett - IND Lincoln 19 2 6 - 3 .316
Lachlan Fontaine - IND Quebec 23 1 7 - 4 .304
(Minimum 10 ABs Required)
Best pitching outings
JORDAN ROMANO RHP - AA NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 8.0 3 - - - 8 1-0 - 0.38 0.00
Jordan Romano made an outstanding start this week for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on July 21st in a 4-0 shutout win over the Harrisburg Senators. He pitched eight scoreless innings, surrendering only three base hits while striking out eight Harrisburg batters, to earn the win. His record with the Fisher Cats in 18 starts now stands at 9-4 with a 3.55 ERA. In recognition of his performance, he was named Double A Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Week, for the period July 16-22.
BROCK DYKXHOORN RHP - AAA FRESNO GRIZZLIES
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 6.0 7 3 2 1 3 1-0 - 1.33 3.00
Since being promoted by the Astros to Triple A Fresno Grizzlies in Week VIII, Brock Dykxhoorn has pitched exceptionally well, and this week the trend continued with another fine start. On July 20th in an 8-5 victory over the Albuquerque Isotopes he threw six innings, scattered seven base hits and gave up two earned runs while striking out three Isotopes batters, to earn his fifth win. He improved his record with Fresno in ten Pacific Coast League starts, to 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA.
BOBBY ST. PIERRE RHP - IND ROSWELL INVADERS
APP IP H R ER BB K W-L SV WHIP WK ERA
1 8.0 4 - - 1 7 1-0 - 0.63 0.00
Bobby St. Pierre struggled in his brief stint with the IND Ottawa Champions in the Can Am League and after being released, he quickly signed as a Free Agent with Roswell Invaders of the IND Pecos League, where he has now regained his form. This week on July 23rd he made an excellent start in a 4-0 shutout win over White Sand Pupfish, as he pitched eight scoreless allowing four base hits and while striking out seven White Sands hitters, to earn his sixth win of the season. His record with Roswell in nine Pecos League starts, now stands at 6-1 with a 4.67 ERA.
Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week
Week 1 _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Memphis (Cards) and Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres).
Week II _ RHP Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) New Hampshire (Blue Jays).
Week III _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Gwinett (Braves).
Week IV _ RHP Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) Corpus Christi (Astros).
Week V _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).
Week VI _ RP Phillippe Aumont (Hull, Que.) Toledo (Tigers)
Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) New Hampshire (Jays).
Week VIII _ RHP Curtis Taylor (Coquitlam, BC) Montgomery (Rays)
Week IX _ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) San Antonio (Padres)
Week X _ 3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que,) Buise Creek (Astros) and 2B Charles Leblanc (Lavall, Que.) Down East Wood (Rangers).
Week XI _ C Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) Hillsboro (Diamondbacks).
Week XII _ LHP Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) Hartford (Rockies).
Week XIII _ OF Ben Pelletier (Varennes, Que.) Williamsport (Philies)
Week XIV _ OF Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) Vancouver (Blue Jays)
Week XV _ INF Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) Lakeland (Tigers)
Week XVI _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Memphis (Cards)