CHICAGO — Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill is going to rest for a couple of days before the Red Sox decide on a possible return to the injured list for his ailing right knee.
Manager Alex Cora said O’Neill will sit out this weekend’s games against the Chicago White Sox. The team is off Monday, and it is hoping to have him back in the lineup Tuesday against Philadelphia.
“If we can take advantage of the next three days and avoid the IL, that’s what we’re going to do,” Cora said.
O’Neill was activated from the 10-day IL on Wednesday after being sidelined by right knee inflammation. He tweaked his knee when he hauled in Paul DeJong’s fly ball in the second inning of Friday’s 7-2 loss to the White Sox. After Lenyn Sosa popped up to catcher for Chicago’s first out of the third, O’Neill walked off the field with Cora and a trainer.
O’Neill was acquired by Boston in a December trade with St. Louis. He went on the IL with the knee issue on May 29.
O’Neill, who turns 29 on June 22, is batting .250 with 11 homers and 18 RBIs in 44 games.
“This guy wants to play,” Cora said. “He’s been very vocal about it. It just happened that yesterday he didn’t feel great out there and we took him out of the game.”