Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neill hasn’t played since early August, and it appears the reason why was a bit scarier than first thought.
O’Neill revealed Wednesday that he was hospitalized for four days with the injury that has sidelined him since Aug. 2.
The two-time Gold Glover resumed baseball activities on Tuesday and is traveling with the team.
“Pretty scary for a couple of days,” O’Neill said. “The [Massachusetts General Hospital] doctors and medical staff over there took really good care of me over the weekend into yesterday, so feeling a lot better, happy to be back on my feet.”
Boston placed O’Neill on the injured list on Aug. 7 when a leg infection emerged after a few days off with an undisclosed illness.
At the time, O’Neill and the team were confused as to what was going on.
“I talked to [O’Neill] and he said, ‘Alex, I have no idea what happened,’” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, according to MLB.com. “When [athletic trainer Jon Jochim] saw him in Texas, he was in bad shape. Then I think it was the last day that his leg was huge. He’s been getting treatment, doing everything possible with the medical staff to take care of this. … It just happened. He doesn’t know. He woke up in the morning and [his leg] was big.”
Cora indicated that O’Neill has been “frustrated” as he deals with the latest setback in an injury-riddled season.
“It’s been taking a while and I can tell you he’s frustrated,” Cora said Tuesday, per The Boston Globe. “This came out of nowhere and it’s been taking a long time. We’ve got to get him going baseball-wise, but nothing yet.”
It was the third time O’Neill had landed on the IL this season after going out with knee inflammation in May and getting stitches after an on-field collision in April.
O’Neill has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, playing in just 168 games in 2022 and 2023 combined.
He’s been a star when on the field this season, hitting .268/.357/.544 with 22 home runs and 45 RBIs in 80 games.