Tyler O’Neill has made a strong first impression with the Boston Red Sox.
Not only has he been one of Boston’s most productive players through the first month and a half of the 2024 season. He also possesses a burning competitive fire that radiates throughout the Red Sox clubhouse.
The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier revealed on the most recent episode of NESN’s “310 to Left” podcast that he asked several Red Sox players how they would describe O’Neill, now in his first season with the organization.
The common response, per Speier: “Intense.”
It’s an assessment O’Neill agrees with.
“Yeah, I’m definitely intense out there, man,” O’Neill told Speier and NESN’s Tom Caron on the podcast. “I’m a competitor and I want to win. That’s the first thought that comes to my mind. I think this year, I took a mature curve and I’m just trying to be a tough out at the plate. Most of the time, I’m not trying to do too much. Sometimes, I get caught up in the moment a little bit, but for me, it’s about slowing it down, taming it down and reeling it in a little bit. Not trying to do too much, using the whole field, take a walk when it’s coming my way. That’s a key for me, too, and it’s more mental than anything, of course. Obviously, I’m all jacked up and wired up. I love being in the weight room. I love just getting after it and going hard and stuff. But for me, that’s my challenge — being able to reel it in and take it back and being able to be calm and focused.
“So, I lean on a couple different things to balance that out for me a bit. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want to be intense. I want to be a competitor. I don’t want to be dialed like that. It’s just about being able to balance it on a day-to-day basis.”
O’Neill’s intensity is palpable, on and off the field. But if channeled correctly, it can be an asset, both for him and for a team trying to establish an identity amid a rash of injuries early in 2024.
O’Neill, 28, spent six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals before an offseason trade to Boston. So far, he’s fitting in perfectly with the Red Sox, providing both power and steady defense at the corner-outfield positions.
