Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale says O'Brien will catch a bit this spring but the emphasis will be to "see how good an outfielder he can be," Fox Sports Arizona's Steve Berthiaume reports.

EDGE Analysis

This is a change from the end of last season, when Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reported that O'Brien would enter spring training as a catcher. As an outfielder, O'Brien may struggle to find playing time behind penciled-in starters Yasmany Tomas, A.J. Pollock and David Peralta, though the offseason trade of Ender Inciarte could help O'Brien find the field in a reserve role.

O'Brien is batting .307/.348/.566 for Triple-A Reno and hit his 14th home run Friday. This was just the slugger's second home run in June, as he has slumped at the plate recently collecting just nine hits in his last 42 at-bats (.214 average). While Yasmany Tomas is not expected to need a DL stint, after getting hit on the elbow with a pitch Friday, O'Brien's name will be discussed as a replacement any time one of the D-back's corner outfielders suffers an injury. O'Brien has played the outfield exclusively since late May, a sign that his days as a catcher could be over, although that has not been made official.

O'Brien will move to the outfield full-time, according to a report from Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The timing of the decision seems curious with the injury to starting catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, but O'Brien has been considered a candidate to move out from behind the plate for most of his minor league tenure. He is hitting .337/.377/.641 for Triple-A Reno and will now focus on developing as an outfielder where his path to the majors is less straight forward since the D-Backs have a number of decent options ahead of him.

O'Brien was not recalled from Triple-A Reno when D-Backs' catcher Tuffy Gosewisch went down with a knee injury because he still needs more reps behind the plate, reports the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro. This isn't exactly surprising as there have been questions about O'Brien's defense for some time and he has just 10 games at catcher this year. Manager Chip Hale has positive things to say about his progress, but it is clear that despite his .343/.385/.657 and 12 home runs he will have to do more defensively to get called up to the D-Backs.

O'Brien is batting .344/.382/.669 with 11 home runs, 44 RBI, and 30 runs scored in 170 plate appearances for Triple-A Reno. O'Brien's 1/051 OPS leads the Pacific Coast League and he ranks third in home runs. While he is still striking out in 20 percent of his plate appearances, that is down a fair bit from his previous minor league seasons. The D-Backs continue to give O'Brien time behind the plate, but the view among other evaluators is that he can't handle the position in the majors. With his power, the bat will play somewhere.

O'Brien caught his first game of the season at Triple-A Reno on Wednesday, FOX Sports Arizona's Jack Magruder reports. He also hit is eighth home run of the season, so O'Brien's ability with the stick is not what is at question here. O'Brien started the year playing the outfield in an attempt to give him a break from the mental aspect of catching, but his quickest route to the big leagues would be as a catcher, so this is good news. However, there's also a fairly decent chance that his defense behind the plate becomes an issue, or his offense suffers because of his attention to catching. It will be an intriguing situation to monitor going forward.

O'Brien launched his seventh home run of the season Tuesday as part of a 3-for-4 day for Triple-A Reno. O'Brien is enjoying life in the friendly batting environments of the Pacific Coast League, posting a .397/.436/.781 line in the early going. He is still playing exclusively in the outfield, which makes his route to Arizona a bit tougher as they have plenty of outfielders at the moment. O'Brien is making a lot more contact and has reduced his strikeouts significantly so far, but with just three walks drawn to date, he still has stuff to work on at the plate.

O'Brien homered for the third straight day, giving him six on the season, to go 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and a walk Wednesday for Triple-A Reno. O'Brien continues to show off big power and has now drawn a walk in consecutive games too. He is batting .426/.466/.852 on the season, but despite the impressive line the Diamondbacks have no where to put him in the outfield, and he hasn't returned to catching yet, so he is not likely to come up any time soon.

O'Brien homered for the second consecutive day, giving him five on the season, as part of a 3-for-4 day with two runs scored and an RBI, for Triple-A Reno. O'Brien also drew his first walk of the season. He is hitting .431 on the season and continues to show off impressive power.

O'Brien went 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season Monday for Triple-A Reno. He scored twice and drove in two runs. O'Brien keeps hitting, raising his line to .404/.429/.766 after this performance. The question remains whether he can field a position well enough to stick in a major league lineup. He played left field in this one, while the D-Backs maintain that the move to the outfield isn't permanent and he can be expected back behind the plate in the coming weeks. Of note, O'Brien is still yet to draw a walk this season through 49 plate appearances.