Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill will rest for a few days before the Red Sox decide if he needs to return to the injured list due to his ailing right knee. Manager Alex Cora announced that O’Neill will miss this weekend’s games against the Chicago White Sox. With the team having Monday off, they hope he can return to the lineup on Tuesday against Philadelphia.
“If we can take advantage of the next three days and avoid the IL, that’s what we’re gonna do,” Cora said.
O’Neill was activated from the 10-day IL on Wednesday after being sidelined with right knee inflammation. He aggravated his knee while catching Paul DeJong’s flyball in the second inning of Friday’s 7-2 loss to the White Sox. After Lenyn Sosa popped up for Chicago’s first out of the third inning, O’Neill walked off the field with Cora and a trainer.
O’Neill, acquired by Boston in a December trade with St. Louis, went on the IL with the knee issue on May 29. He turns 29 on June 22 and is batting .250 with 11 homers and 18 RBIs in 44 games.
“This guy wants to play,” Cora said. “He’s been very vocal about it. It just happened that yesterday he didn’t feel great out there, so we took him out of the game.”
