Tyler

O'Neill

O’Neill and Gary Sanchez both became official Tuesday. The outfielder will be a starting corner outfielder for the Orioles after hitting .241 with 31 homers and an .847 OPS in his first and only season with the Red Sox in 2024. He won’t help in the average category, but O’Neill has enough pop to be a solid run producer while playing in a quality Baltimore lineup.

The deal includes an opt-out for the 29-year-old outfielder after 2025. Baltimore gets some much-needed right-handed pop in its lineup by acquiring O’Neill, who will be on his third team in three years. His 2021 season appears to be an outlier as he hit .286 with a 141 wRC+ and hasn’t hit above .241 in the three years since. That doesn’t mean O’Neill can’t still be productive as he was in 2024 with Boston when he slugged 31 home runs and posted a 131 wRC+. Even though the Orioles are moving the fences in from left field this offseason, the move represents a downgrade in home ballpark for O’Neill, who should still be a solid fantasy option. Baltimore is getting a steal at this price if he’s able to stay healthy as his contract was likely depressed by the fact he’s only played over 100 twice due to injury. O’Neill is certainly an upgrade on Austin Hays, who entered last season as the starting left fielder.

He sat out Sunday’s doubleheader with back tightness. Since O’Neill is apparently limited to DH duties, Masataka Yoshida has taken a seat tonight.

The Red Sox believe it’s minor and that there’s some chance of him being in the lineup for the nightcap. Ceddanne Rafaela is starting in the outfield today with O’Neill sitting.

O’Neill clubbed a down-and-in slider from Keegan Akin high over the Green Monster to win this game for the Red Sox in extra innings. They desperately needed this game to stay in the playoff race and O’Neill’s heroics pushed them over the edge. The home run was his 30th – the first time he’s crossed that benchmark since 2019 – and his OPS is up to .895 in what’s been a fantastic bounce-back season in Boston.

O’Neill has been a guy who gets homers in bunches throughout his career, and one of those bunches is, well, bunching right now. He and Rob Refsnyder went back-to-back twice, and he’s now up to 29 homers in his first season with the Red Sox. That’s his second multi-homer contest in three games, and fantasy managers shouldn’t be surprised if the trips around home keep coming.

O’Neill smacked a two-run shot off Garrett Crochet in the first, and hit a solo blast off Enyel De Los Santos in the fifth. That gives the powerful right-handed hitter 27 homers in his first year as a member of the Red Sox, and he also singled to raise his average to .258. The latter number isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s a very passable number when you hit for power like O’Neill does.

O’Neill put the only run on the board for the Red Sox in the first inning, taking Tarik Skubal deep for a solo homer. It would be all Boston could do against the left-hander. O’Neill later drew a walk in the ninth. It was the 25th home run of the season for the 29-year-old outfielder. He’s slashing .253/.342/.521 with 64 runs scored, 50 RBI, and four steals across 389 plate appearances.

In a game where the two starters gave up a combined seven hits and one run, O’Neill’s late inning blast over the Green Monster provided valuable insurance as his Red Sox were locked into a 1-0 lead since the first inning. The homer was his 24th of the year across just 89 games in what’s been a tremendous bounce-back season.

O’Neill hurt his finger before Friday’s game and missed the first two games of the weekend, but the 29-year-old will be back at it against Arizona while hitting in the middle of the Boston lineup.