Red Sox Breakout Star Headed To Injured List, Putting Career Year On Pause

The slugger should not be out for long but will be missed in the short-term

Scott Neville | Apr 18, 2024

Apr 5, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Boston Red Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill (17) singles during / Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have placed 11 people on the big-league injured list despite being just 20 games into the season.

Unfortunately, it does not feel as though the injury train is slowing down anytime soon. The Red Sox had a notable collision involving their biggest star and their most productive slugger in the early goings. The former being third baseman Rafael Devers and the latter newly-acquired outfielder Tyler O'Neill.

Devers escaped the crash relatively unscathed -- though he is battling unrelated shoulder and knee ailments -- but O'Neill was far less fortunate.

"The Red Sox today placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 7-Day Injured List, retroactive to April 16," the team announced. "To fill O’Neill’s spot on the active roster, the club reinstated outfielder Rob Refsnyder from the 10-Day Injured List."

O'Neill has been in the concussion protocol and needed eight stitches above his eye following the incident. Thus far, the 28-year-old has passed the protocol but will need a few days before returning to action.

The hulking slugger is hitting .313 with seven home runs, eight RBIs and a league-leading 1.209 OPS in 15 games to open the season.

The Red Sox have fallen off a cliff since their 7-3 start and now are squarely in last place of the American League East, largely due to their inability to stay healthy.

More MLB: Red Sox Rising Star Placed On Injured List As Ailments Continue To Mount

Published Apr 18, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu