FORT MYERS, Fla. — Tyler O’Neill received two Gold Gloves taking part in left subject for the Cardinals, however he’s hardly ever patrolled an outfield like Fenway Park’s.
Between the Green Monster in left subject, the triangle in heart and large expansive grass in proper, adjusting to the ballpark’s distinctive dimensions has been one of many first orders of enterprise for the brand new Red Sox outfielder.
“I’m loving it. Fenway is such a unique ballpark and you don’t see anything like it anywhere else in the world,” O’Neill stated after Monday’s 7-6 walk-off win over Philadelphia. “It’s so unique, intricate, it’s going to take practice just to get comfortable with all three positions out there.”
Right now the plan is for O’Neill to primarily play left subject, and supervisor Alex Cora stated he’ll play there virtually completely in spring coaching to assist get him used to the large wall, however there’s nonetheless lots of uncertainty over how the membership will in the end use him. It’s attainable he could finally bump to heart or proper relying on the matchup, and whether or not or not Ceddanne Rafaela makes the staff might have an enormous impact on the final word outfield alignment as properly.
O’Neill acknowledged he hasn’t been informed what his position might be, however he believes he has loads to supply.
“I’m not sure, first and foremost I want to be contributing every day,” stated O’Neill, who went 1 for two with a stroll and a run scored whereas batting leadoff. “I know I have a role to play on this team and we have a lot of potential and we’re a good hitting ballclub in a hitters park, so I want to play my role there and do everything I can to be in a good position physically for 160 games.”
When totally wholesome O’Neill has proven he’s able to acting at an All-Star stage. In 2021 he earned MVP consideration after hitting 34 house runs with 80 RBI, 15 stolen bases and a .912 OPS. He’s been restricted by harm to fewer than 100 video games in every of the final two seasons since, however proper now could be totally wholesome and has spent the entire offseason working to make sure he stays that approach.
Cora stated he’s been impressed by the 28-year-old, who has already demonstrated an elite first step and who he hopes will help deal with one of many membership’s longest standing weaknesses — outfield decision-making.
“He hasn’t been tested with that, runner’s at first, where do we throw the ball, but he moves fast and he brings an edge to the lineup,” Cora stated.
Beyond his abilities on the sphere, one of many first issues that stands out about O’Neill is his physique. The son of a champion bodybuilder and former Mr. Canada winner, O’Neill has made weightlifting an important a part of his life from a younger age, and that dedication helped elevate him from a comparatively undersized child to one among MLB’s finest athletes.
“I started out as a smaller kid, I was never the tallest kid nor the biggest kid, but I was able to put on size in high school and put some pop in my bat with the stuff I did in the weight room,” stated O’Neill, who’s listed at 5-foot-11, 200 kilos. “Just understanding rep schemes and the importance of dieting and just the discipline in general definitely put me a step ahead early.”
Ironically, one among O’Neill’s prime contenders for the title of MLB’s most ripped participant might wind up lining as much as his left at Fenway Park. Between Jarren Duran, O’Neill and the remainder of Boston’s outfield contenders, the Red Sox ought to wind up having one among their most dynamic outfields in latest reminiscence.
But for anybody imagining what it have to be like when O’Neill and Duran hit the fitness center collectively, O’Neill stated it doesn’t occur as typically as you’d assume.
“Unfortunately we’re on different schedules, I like to get my stuff done in the morning, he’s kind of post-baseball activities,” O’Neill stated. “But he’s jacked man, it’s fun to see him throw some weight around in there. Same mentality as me, he just wants to get after it, lift some heavy weights and stuff and obviously he’s so athletic.”
Houck good
Tanner Houck was good in his spring debut, throwing two scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and no strikeouts. He threw 21 pitches, 15 for strikes.
Notably, Cora stated this weekend that Houck’s velocity is up essentially the most of anybody on the staff. That wasn’t instantly evident Monday — his fastball averaged 94-95 mph and his cutter 90-91, each consistent with his season averages final 12 months — however Cora stated he was proud of what he noticed and Houck stated he doesn’t normally take note of his velo this early in camp anyway.
“I’ll get in my head about that and think I need to try and throw harder and start overthrowing, then mechanics get out of whack,” Houck stated. “I know if I stay smooth, smooth is quick, so as long as I stay on that path I like where the velo is at.”
Lucas Luetge allowed a two-run house run to Whit Merrifield within the third inning, Chase Shugart pitched a scoreless fourth and Andrew Politi allowed a run within the fifth. Philadelphia did the remainder of its harm towards the Red Sox minor leaguers, together with a pair of house runs off Brian Van Belle within the prime of the sixth.
Refsnyder on a roll
Through two video games Rob Refsnyder has been a run-producing machine. After knocking in two RBI in Sunday’s win over the Twins, the outfielder adopted issues up with one other two RBI effort, going 1 for two with an RBI single and a run-scoring groundout.
Rafael Devers, Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida every went 0 for two with a stroll. Catcher Tyler Heineman additionally went 2 for two with a run and second baseman Nick Yorke went 1 for two with a stroll and two runs scored, together with the game-winning run on a wild pitch to provide Boston the walk-off within the backside of the ninth.
Next up
The Red Sox hit the street Tuesday to face the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter. The recreation is scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m.
Source: www.bostonherald.com