OTTAWA – Canadian Tyler O’Neill has won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award after the 25-year-old outfielder posted a fine defensive season for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Maple Ridge, BC native inserted himself as a regular into the Cardinals outfield during the shortened 2020 Major League Baseball regular season and performed admirably in an error-free season that saw him lead all MLB left fielders with nine Defensive Runs Saved, while recording 89 putouts in 48 games this season. He also ranked fourth among all MLB outfielders in the category of Defensive Wins Above Replacement at 3.9.
O’Neill joins fellow Maple Ridge native and Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Walker as the only Canadian outfielders to win a Gold Glove Award, something Walker did seven times in his illustrious career. O’Neill also joins catcher Russell Martin (2007) and first baseman Joey Votto (2011) as fellow Canadians to capture a Gold Glove Award.
O’Neill made his National Team debut with the Junior National Team program in 2012 and went on to capture Junior National Team MVP honours after a standout performance at the 2013 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup. He was an integral piece of Canada’s lineup that captured the 2015 Pan Am Games gold medal on home soil in Ajax and later represented Canada at the 2015 Premier12 event and 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 2013 MLB Draft, O’Neill was dealt to the Cardinals during the 2017 season and made his MLB debut in 2018.
