Oscar Tavares, one of the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospects who hit a home run in the National League championship series against the San Francisco Giants earlier this month, died in a car accident Sunday in the Dominican Republic. He was 22.
According to The Post-Dispatch, Tavares and his girlfriend were killed in an accident that happened near his hometown of Sosua, Puerta Plata, which is located along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Baseball America and MLB.com ranked Taveras as one of the top two hitting prospects in the minors each of the past two seasons, the newspaper noted.
"We are all stunned and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of the youngest members of the Cardinals family," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a statement. "Oscar was an amazing talent with a bright future who was taken from us well before his time. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends tonight."
The Puerto Plata police are still trying to determine the cause of the accident, noted the Post-Dispatch. Dominican newspapers identified baseball player's girlfriend as Edilia Arvelo, 18.
"We're still investigating at the scene," Lopez Reyes, a lieutenant junior with the
Puerto Plata police, told USA Today. "We've had some heavy rainfall here lately. It might have contributed to the accident."
USA Today noted that Tavares batted .320 over six minor league seasons, including .386 as a teenager in the Class A Midwest League in 2011. Tony Clark, director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said in a statement that he had one of the brightest futures of the current crop of young baseball stars.
"We are very saddened to learn of the news that a car accident has claimed the life of Oscar Tavares and his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic," Clark said in his statement.
"Oscar had a very promising future, on and off the field, and this news is heartbreaking on many levels. It's never easy to lose a member of our fraternity, and to lose one so young is devastating news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both, as well as to the St. Louis Cardinals organization and Oscar's many fans in the United States and the Dominican Republic."
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