Oscar Taveras’ Work Ethic Could Be Problem For St. Louis Cardinals

By Drew Jenkins @DrewJenkins77 on October 13, 2014

Oscar Taveras came into the 2014 season as one of, if not the most desirable prospect in baseball. Though the outfielder was limited to 46 games in 2013 thanks to injuries, he had torn up minor league pitching and seemed on the cusp of being a star for the St. Louis Cardinals. But this season, Taveras has only created more questions about himself than ever before.

First of all, Taveras showed up to Spring Training having gained 20 pounds. Weight gain is not always a bad thing, but in Taveras’ case he had already shown plenty of power in the minors and adding weight was only going to slow him down in the outfield. Taveras was already thought defensively to be a fringe-center fielder, and adding weight certainly did not help him with that.

The added weight raised questions about Taveras’ worth ethic, but that did not show in his Triple-A numbers this season. In 62 games with Triple-A Memphis, Taveras hit .318/.370/.502 with a 121 wRC+. However, there were still reports that Taveras’ worth ethic was iffy, and some said that Taveras did not see Triple-A as a challenge anymore, so he stopped trying.

Upon promotion to the big leagues, Taveras has struggled. In his 80 games this year, he has hit just .239/.278/.312 with a 67 wRC+, meaning that he was a 33 percent below-average hitter. Mired in the middle of a playoff run, the Cardinals began to rely less and less on Taveras, and in September Taveras started just 12 games. He still managed to find his way onto the Cardinals’ playoff roster, and he hit a key home run in their Game 2 win in the NLCS. Still, Taveras has not started a game for the Cardinals in the playoffs, and he has received just five total plate appearances.

Once again, questions about Taveras’ self-motivation have been surfacing given his struggles in the big leagues. Taveras still has potential to be an MLB star, but to get there he needs to adjust his attitude. Making adjustments is key to being successful in the big leagues, and having a poor work ethic does not bode well for a player’s ability to make adjustments.

Often times we see prospects cruise through the minors on talent alone only to flame out upon reaching the big leagues because they have never had to work hard to be good. Taveras certainly is not to that point yet, but the Cardinals need to be worried about what he has shown in his first year in the big leagues.