O’Neill avoids concussion after scary collision
The Red Sox can breathe a sigh of relief. Tyler O’Neill does not have a concussion.
O’Neill and Rafael Devers collided on a fly ball to short left field in the seventh inning of Monday’s loss to the Guardians. Devers ran back on the play from third base while O’Neill, playing left, ran in. As Devers recorded the out, the back of his head crashed into O’Neill’s face, causing both players to fall to the grass.
Both O’Neill and Devers were slow to get up. O’Neill walked off on his own power, but had his forehead busted open. He later received eight stitches above his left eye.
To manager Alex Cora, neither O’Neill nor Devers was in the wrong.
“Everybody will say fly-ball communication, they suck at that. But it’s 35,000 people screaming. And it just so happens that two baseball players were trying to make a play,” Cora said before Tuesday’s 10-7, 11-inning loss. “It’s hard. In Little League, you can say, ‘I got it. I got it.’ And, ‘Take it, take it, take it.’ That happens in Little League. That ball was in the triangle, and they wanted to get out of the inning, and that just happened.”
Devers was in Tuesday’s lineup and smashed a go-ahead double in the fiverun sixth inning. However, he left in the seventh because of left knee discomfort and will undergo more imaging Wednesday.
O’Neill, meanwhile, will need a few days. Even if he’s out for the rest of the series, that’s preferable to a trip to the injured list.
“I mean, this guy, he’s important. He’s important to this offense,” Cora said. “And you saw it yesterday. They had a lane there [throwing] all the lefties. He creates balance. And I think, obviously, the guy is a good hitter. He’s a good defender, good baserunner. And I’m glad that you know it’s just a few days and he should be back.”
The Sox had seven lefthanded hitters in Tuesday’s starting lineup — all except Connor Wong batting seventh and Ceddanne Rafaela in ninth. O’Neill is one of the few righthanded hitters in the lineup consistently, and the only one who’s a power threat, his seven homers leading the team in both that stat and extra-base hits.
Cora said the Sox have had conversations about how their lineup will look when Vaughn Grissom returns, and have toyed with the idea of separating Jarren Duran and Devers at the top. O’Neill could be a fit; he already has been used to separate Devers and Triston Casas.
Injuries mounting
Just 18 games into the season, the Sox already have had nine players hit the injured list, with Lucas Giolito, Trevor Story, and Chris Murphy all out for the year. That group includes Nick Pivetta, who had only gone on the IL for COVID in 2021 before he hit the 15day with a right flexor strain. “It’s not fun, but it is what it is,” said Cora. “We just got to be ready for today. The guys that are playing today got to do the job. That’s the attitude that we have. That’s the attitude they should have, the players. We’ve been talking to them like, we’re going to use everybody. We’re going to move people around. We’re going to try to maximize matchups and especially where we’re at right now. They just have to be ready.” Pivetta is trending in the right direction, Cora said, after playing catch again Tuesday . . . Garrett Whitlock left the game after just four innings with left oblique tightness. Whitlock said he felt it in the third inning, however said the removal was just precautionary. It’s uncertain if he will make his next start . . . Bobby Dalbec took some reps in left field during pre-game. He’s made starts at both corner infield spots this season, plus brief cameos at shortstop each of the past three seasons . . . Vaughn Grissom (groin) went 1 for 3 from the DH spot for Triple A Worcester on Tuesday while Rob Refsnyder (toe) played right field and homered.