Tyler

O'Neill

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.

Encarnacion-Strand has become a fixture in the middle of the O’s lineup since his arrival, but he’ll get a breather in this one against tough right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. Coby Mayo will cover the hot corner in his absence while Tyler O’Neill serves as the Orioles’ designated hitter and will bat cleanup on Friday.

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.