After appearing in the Boston Red Sox's first two games of the series against the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park, outfielder Tyler O'Neill was supposed to have a day off to rest on Thursday.
However, after Boston's 7-2 victory over Miami on Wednesday, O'Neill walked into manager Alex Cora's office and fought to play in the series finale.
“T.O. wanted to play, which is great,” Cora said (via. MassLive). “We’ve been taking care of him. It’s that time for him to start taking care of us. That’s why we do it. He came into the office last night and said, ‘Hey man, I feel great. I want to play tomorrow.’ So we made adjustments.”
Since returning from his knee injury in early June, O'Neill has hit .314 with a .973 OPS with five home runs and 11 RBIs. His performance has been a huge reason for the Red Sox's success over the last month or so. If he can stay healthy, he'll either help Boston make a push for the postseason, or he'll become a great trade chip for Craig Breslow to use at the trade deadline.
