Tyler O'Neill

O’Neill has been out since August 23rd with shoulder inflammation and was healthy for just 260 plate appearances this season. The Orioles expect the 31-year-old to be ready to start the 2027 season, but he will not be guaranteed any role as he heads into the final year of his contract, where he will make $16.5 million.

O’Neill is done for the remainder of the season after hitting the shelf with shoulder inflammation back in late August. He finishes the year hitting .212/.300/.377 with 10 homers, 23 RBI and one steal in 260 plate appearances.

O’Neill told reporters an MRI revealed a rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder. It’s unclear whether it’s serious enough to require surgery, but it feels like his season is over. He suffered the injury while trying to make a diving catch over the weekend. The power-hitting 31-year-old has hit .212/.300/.377 with 10 homers, 23 RBI and one steal in 260 plate appearances this season. He’s under contract for $16.5 million for 2027.

It’s a bit surprising that O’Neill hasn’t hit the injured list already, but there doesn’t seem to be a ton of urgency from the Orioles to make a decision here. The 31-year-old has been diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder and appears likely to miss at least a couple weeks.

O’Neill hurt his shoulder on a diving catch attempt over the weekend. He’s been held out of the lineup for two consecutive games and will undergo imaging to determine whether he’s dealing with any structural damage. There should be some additional clarity on his status later this week.

It’s always mildly concerning when the oft-injured outfielder is absent from the Orioles’ starting lineup, but he has started every other game during the week and it sounds like they just wanted to give him a breather. Expect him to be back in there for Monday’s series finale.

We’ve been advocating for O’Neill as an Opening Day leadoff hitter for years now... as long as he’s back batting fifth in game two. Although this is his first start as a leadoff man, O’Neill actually has been credited with two homers while batting first after coming off the bench this season. The start tonight is O’Neill’s eighth in a row following a couple of months in which he tended to start once or twice per week against lefties.

O’Neill’s home run was his ninth of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Reid Detmers in the fourth inning. O’Neill is 15-for-49 (.306) with seven home runs, 11 runs scored and 12 RBI over his last 20 games.

With Taylor Ward gone, O’Neill should have started this game. He’s been one of the Orioles’ hottest hitters of late, batting .289/.333/.667 since the beginning of July even before the homer tonight, but the Orioles have been hesitant to use him against righties, even though he doesn’t have particularly pronounced splits over the course of his career. The homer tonight was off a lefty reliever, so that’s probably not much help. He should be in the lineup Wednesday against southpaw Reid Detmers, though.

O’Neill entered the game in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter, but didn’t make an impact until the 11th. His go-ahead RBI single gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead and they would go on to win 4-2. While O’Neill is hitting just .199 on the season, he’s shown signs of life in recent weeks.

O’Neill homered off Drew Pomeranz in the seventh and Caleb Thielbar in the eighth. The latter was the second of back-to-back homers with Coby Mayo. O’Neill had just three homers in 164 plate appearances this season prior to tonight. He’d been playing mostly against lefties, even though his scant production this year had come versus righties. Both homers tonight were off southpaws, though. He should be in the lineup with the Orioles throwing a lefty in David Peterson on Thursday.

Baltimore was being no-hit through four innings before O’Neill hit a solo blast off Noah Schultz to begin the fifth. He also made an impressive diving catch, but was later pinch-hit for and remains in a very part-time role for the Orioles. O’Neill has started against just one of the past nine right-handers the team has faced. He’s signed through 2027 as part of a three-year, $49.5 million deal he was given as a free agent.

O’Neill showed some signs of life with an RBI double off Will Warren in the sixth inning, though it came on a ball Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham ultimately could’ve caught. It was just O’Neill’s second extra-base hit this season in 60 at-bats. The Orioles signed him through the 2027 season, so O’Neill will be given some kind of leash, but he could be phased out if he doesn’t start hitting soon.

O’Neill was activated prior to Friday’s series opener but didn’t end up making an appearance. The 30-year-old slugging corner outfielder wound up missing just over two weeks with a concussion. He’s back in right field and hitting fifth in his first game action since April 8.

He’ll be eligible to return tonight against the Red Sox. O’Neill wound up missing about two weeks after suffering his concussion on April 9. Baltimore hasn’t posted a lineup yet but it would not be surprising if O’Neill found his way into it.

While the 30-year-old slugger has shown improvement, it sounds like he’s still at least a few days away from a potential return to the Orioles lineup. O’Neill has been shelved since April 9.

It turns out it’s not just an illness that O’Neill has been battling, it has actually been a concussion. Johnathan Rodriguez was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take his place on the active roster. O’Neill will have to clear the concussion protocol before he’s eligible to return to action.

O’Neill winds up missing all three games of the weekend series against the Giants. He’s still considered day-to-day, so expect that he’ll return to action early next week. Leody Taveras will draw another start in his place on Sunday and will bat sixth against Giants’ right-hander Adrian Houser.

O’Neill has caught whatever has been going around the Orioles’ clubhouse and will be held out of action on Friday night as a result. Leody Taveras will take his place in the Orioles’ lineup and will bat seventh against Giants’ right-hander Landen Roupp.

It’s notable that O’Neill has started just half of Baltimore’s eight games on the young season and he’s been out of the lineup for three straight. It’ll be Dylan Beavers and Colton Cowser continuing to get opportunities to play regularly with reclamation project Leody Taveras getting some unexpected run in center field at the moment.