Justin

O'Conner

O’Conner signed on with the St. Paul Saints of the independent American Association last summer after getting hit with a 50-game suspension for a drug of abuse while in spring training with the Giants. The 26-year-old former supplemental first-round pick will likely be nothing more than minor league depth for the White Sox.

O’Conner cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and will remain in the organization. He’s recovering from multiple back surgeries and isn’t a given to play in 2017.

O’Conner was the 31st overall pick in the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft and ranked as a top-100 prospect by MLB.com as recently as 2015, but he needed two back surgeries this offseason after appearing in only 20 minor league games in 2016. Somebody will take a chance on him.

O’Conner struggled through the first two-plus months of the season, batting just .192/.222/.305 with four home runs and a 62/6 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 44 games. Something clicked for the 23-year-old backstop in mid-June, however, as he’s rebounded to hit .310 with four home runs, nine doubles and 12 RBI in his last 21 contests. O’Conner’s recent hot streak has raised his season batting line to .231/.261/.386 to go along with eight home runs and 17 doubles, but it’s still difficult to ignore his ugly 80/10 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 66 games at Montgomery. On a positive note, O’Conner has continued to shine behind the plate this season by throwing out 17 of 37 (46%) of attempted base stealers.

He also scored three runs, doubling for the third time in as many games. O’Conner has struggled offensively, hitting .199 this season with 50 strikeouts in only 136 at-bats. Fortunately, he’s been a stud behind the plate, throwing out 35 percent of would-be base stealers. Tampa Bay used its first-round pick on O’Conner back in 2010.

O’Conner had a lot of hype headed into the season after a long overdue breakout campaign in 2014, but so far he’s been a disappointment, with a .205/.230/.346 batting line, six home runs, 31.5% strikeout rate and 2.8% walk rate in 213 plate appearances (51 games) for Montgomery. He has fared slightly better of late, though, going 7-for-21 (.333) with two home runs and three doubles over his last five games. The good news is that O’Conner has continued to shine behind the plate this season by throwing out 10-of-25 (40%) base stealers, which, amazingly, is below his career rate of 45.1%.

He is the first cut of the spring for Tampa Bay. O’Conner, a former first-round draft pick, batted just .231/.255/.371 in 444 plate appearances last season at Double-A. He turns 24 years old later this month.

O’Conner is dealing with what is vaguely being called back issues, so it’s unclear how long he might be out. The team said they will update his status in a few days. The Rays have quantity but not much quality behind the dish, so it’s an unfortunate development for the 23-year-old, who could benefit from having a strong, healthy spring.

O’Conner developed a herniated disc in his back on the drive to spring training, so he’ll now miss out on a being part of big league camp. The young catcher will open the year back in the minors once he’s healthy.

O’Conner actually suffered the injury on the drive to spring training. He’ll be sidelined for at least a couple weeks. O’Conner didn’t have a chance to make the Opening Day roster, anyway.