St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Oscar Taveras dies in accident

St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Oscar Taveras and his 18-year-old girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, died in an automobile accident in his native Dominican Republic Sunday, his agent confirmed to reporters Sunday. Taveras was one of the top prospects over the last few seasons for the Cardinals, entering the season as the number three overall prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America. He was just 22 years old.

Taveras made his debut for the Cardinals this season after being ranked as one of the top prospects in the minors over the last few years, right along with the Chicago Cubs Kris Bryant this season. He was a .320 hitter in his six minor league seasons. He faced the Cubs at the big league level nine times this season, batting .200 in 26 plate appearances, collecting five hits and knocking in two runs.

He was expected to compete with Randal Grichuk for the starting right field job next season, but the team wanted him to work on his conditioning during the offseason.

Twitter was filled with surprise and sadness at the unexpected passing of such a young man.

Brian Mejia, Taveras’ agent, told reporters Taveras and his girlfriend died in the accident. Details were released later Sunday evening at MLB.com and several other media outlets:

"Taveras was behind the wheel of his red 2014 Chevrolet Camaro in the city of Puerto Plata, about 215 miles north of the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo, when the accident occurred, Coronel Diego Pesqueira of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency told the Associated Press. Taveras was not carrying identification but his family confirmed it was him, Pesqueira said."

We at Cubbies Crib offer our deepest condolences to the Taveras family, and the entire Cardinals organization.