Tyler O’Neill returns!
The Red Sox are in Ohio to play three more games against the Cleveland Guardians. They went 7-3 on the road, then 3-7 at home, and are now 3-0 on the road after sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their .565 winning percentage is tied for fourth best in the American League. Imagine if they didn’t plan on a bridge year…
For the first time this season it seems like the Red Sox are getting good news about an injury: Tyler O’Neill is back! He’ll be the DH tonight but it’s nice to have him back,. His .313/.459/.750 line with 7 homers is quite the upgrade already over Alex Verdugo, currently hitting .256/.359/.410 with just 2 home runs.
The #RedSox today reinstated OF Tyler O’Neill from the 7-Day Injured List.
In addition, the club placed C Tyler Heineman on the 10-Day Injured List, retroactive to April 22, with a right hamstring strain.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 23, 2024
Not a move for today but the Sox also snagged this guy from the indy leagues. Even in 2024 throwing 98 is impressive.
The Boston Red Sox swiped hard-throwing reliever Danny Kirwin from the Oakland Ballers on Tuesday after the independent team posted video of Kirwin throwing 98 mph. https://t.co/j1xgRngECN
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) April 23, 2024
Notable Rafael Devers is still missing from the lineup.
Tanner Houck, fresh off his dominant start against these same Guardians will look to keep rolling. Even if he can’t get another Maddux.
Masataka Yoshida, who seemed to be getting in a groove is sitting on the bench again. His inability to field a position right now really has the Sox in a bind.
Ben Lively faces the Sox again and while Houck got the better of him last week, 5 innings and 2 runs with 7 Ks is nothing to sneeze at either.
First pitch is at 6:10 PM ET on WEEI and NESN.