For the entirety of the homestead, Tyler O'Neill was nowhere to be found. Now we know why.
The outfielder explained prior to the Red Sox' Wednesday night's game against the Orioles that up until Tuesday he had been in a hospital bed at Massachusetts General Hospital due to a right leg infection.
"I'm just happy I got the care I needed," O'Neill said. "Honestly, it was scary for a couple of days but the MGH really took good care of me. Got me on a good program and I'm doing better because of it. I'm just happy to be back again."
The stint at MGH was O'Neill's second go-round in a hospital after the diagnosis involving his leg, having spent two nights under care while the team was in Kansas City.
While O'Neill wouldn't offer specifics regarding the ailment - or confirm that his recent illness was connected to the infection - he did note that he had lost some weight due to inactivity. Wednesday, however, O'Neill was back to running on the field, hitting in the batting cage and even implementing his weight-lifting regimen.
O'Neill will travel with the team to Baltimore, although he is unsure of if a rehab assignment will be needed.
"It was a pretty crazy week to 10 days for me. My leg blew up, totally unexpected," he noted. O'Neill added, "I didn't want to miss any games in the first place, but I had to take care of business when I did ... I feel like I'm in a good spot now."
O'Neill has played in 80 games for the season, serving as the Red Sox' hottest hitter since the All-Star break. Starting with the Sox' trip to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers, O'Neill has hit .354 with a 1.220 OPS and six home runs.