3 Cardinals players who’ll be better in 2023, and 2 who won’t

Oct 8, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) slides safely into second base for a double during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in game two of the Wild Card series for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

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St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Tyler O’ Neill. (Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports) /

Why Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill will have a better year in 2023

2021 couldn’t have gone much better for Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill. He went from a player who had never played more than 61 games across his first three seasons to an MVP candidate.

O’Neill hit 34 home runs, had a 148 OPS+, and won a Gold Glove award. He was hitting third down the stretch right in between Goldschmidt and Arenado and helped carry them to the second Wild Card spot. Unfortunately, the Cards lost at Dodger Stadium, but O’Neill had broken out in a big way.

While 2021 couldn’t have gone much better for O’Neill, 2022 couldn’t have gone much worse. He regressed heavily offensively and had trouble staying on the field. O’Neill had three separate stints on the injured list and battled through a variety of injuries. He was limited to just 96 games.

In those games, he slashed .228/.308/.392 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI. Hit 101 OPS+ was nowhere near the 148 OPS+ he had in 2021.

He likely isn’t the MVP-caliber player he was in 2021 but with better health and a little better batted-ball luck (.278 BAbip in 2022), he should be better for St. Louis.

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