By Julian Rifkin
The Saint Louis Cardinals are mourning the loss of their top prospect, Oscar Taveras. On Sunday, Taveras and his girlfriend were driving in his home country of the Dominican Republic when he lost control of the car resulting in the death of both of them.
Just over two weeks ago we saw Taveras launch his first career postseason home run down the right field line in the seventh inning of game three. Taveras had been widely considered the best offensive prospect for the Cardinals and has drawn comparisons to Vladimir Guerrero, Ken Griffey Junior and former Cardinal Albert Pujols. Many scouts say that his talent level was a mix of all three of these players, both offensively and defensively.
Taveras was signed as a 16 year old in 2008, but didn’t come stateside to play until 2010. Taveras came to the states and was sent to join the Gulf Coast Cardinals before quickly being promoted to the Johnson City Cardinals. Over the next three seasons, Taveras quickly made a name for himself in the minor leagues as one of the best young hitters. This drew the attention of the Cardinals front office and at the end of May, Taveras was called up to the big leagues to replace an injured Matt Adams.
In his second at-bat, Taveras recorded his first hit, a towering home run over the right field fence. Baseball lost a very talented young man just two days ago and players from around the league have voiced their sadness through social media.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Oscar Taveras’ family and the Cardinals organization.