Orioles’ O’Neill on 2026: ‘A lot of motivation to want to produce and be more available’

During last December’s Winter Meetings, the Orioles conceded they wouldn’t be re-signing slugger Anthony Santander, who finished 2024 with 44 home runs, seventh-most in a season.

Santander didn’t sign with the Toronto Blue Jays until January 20^th, but the Orioles thought they had a replacement for him in Tyler O’Neill, an outfielder who hit 31 home runs for the Boston Red Sox in 113 games.

O’Neill was signed to a three-year, $49.5 million contract, which included an opt-out after the 2025 season. It was the first time president of baseball operations Mike Elias had signed a free agent to a multi-year contract.

After hitting three home runs in three games for the Red Sox against the Orioles in September, O’Neill was expected to supply plenty of power.

He got off to a strong start, with eight hits, a home run and five RBIs in his first four games in Toronto. After nine games, O’Neill was hitting .379.

Then, O’Neill went into an awful slump and was just 3-for-36. By April 23^rd, his average was down to .315, and he went on the 10-day injured list for the first time with neck inflammation.

Fifteen days later, O’Neill returned, was just 1-for-15 in six games, and with his average down to .188, returned to the injured list for seven weeks with a shoulder injury.

O’Neill returned to the lineup, played 19 games, hitting home runs in four consecutive games from July 25^th-29^th.

On August 5^th, O’Neill injured his right wrist trying to make a catch in Philadelphia, and he went to the IL for the third time in 2025 and the 17^th time in his career.

He was able to finish the season healthy, hitting .158 in 11 September games.

For the season, O’Neill played in 54 games, hitting .199 with nine home runs, 26 RBIs and a .684 OPS.

Coincidentally, those 54 games were the same number Santander played for the Blue Jays. He missed nearly four months with a hamstring injury, returning for four games in late September.

Even though Oriole fans were critical of the O’Neill signing because of his frequent injuries, he produced better stats than Santander, who followed his 44-home run season by hitting only six with 18 RBIs, a .175 average and .565 OPS.

“I just want to show up and take pride in what I do, take pride in my work,” O’Neill said during the season’s final weekend at Yankee Stadium. “Show up, work really hard, be a good teammate, and whatever happens during the game happens during the game.

“For me, it’s been an unfortunate season. Just kind of the way it is. I’ve been feeling like I’m playing behind a little bit, getting back into a rhythm. Just overall, with the stops and goes and injuries and stuff, just happy to be here and be around these guys and to be playing ball again.”

It was a disappointing season for O’Neill, a workout fiend who sets high standards for himself.

“Like I said, it hasn’t been easy. Very stop and go,” he said. “Tough to get into a rhythm. Just when I felt like I was having it a couple months ago, obviously freak accident happened. Obviously, like I said, I’m just happy to be back and I’m just focused on the day by day and trying to be around these guys and be a good teammate.”

O’Neill knows what’s he’ going to do in the offeseason.

“I’m going to get in the gym,” he said. “I’m going to work really hard in there. I’m going to trust my training program, trust the experts around me. I’m gonna have a facility to myself and a batting cage to myself, just the way I like it, so I‘ll be able to get good work in throughout the months of the wintertime. It’ll be a good situation. I’m really looking forward to it. Coming into next year, a lot of motivation to want to produce and be more available.”

O’Neill said he’d consider changing his winter workout regimen.

“It’s more like adding onto the pile, per se, and then just finding a balance of not overworking on a daily basis with certain things,” he said. “I don’t really want to get into the specifics of that, but like I said, that’s why I have experts around me who I can rely on and put myself in a good position throughout the wintertime and come into spring training strong next year.”

O’Neill is expected to return after playing well below expectations.

“For sure. I know the player that I am,” he said. “I know the way that I can produce on a day-to-day basis. The guys around me know what I can do, how I can produce, so that’s always there. I always have confidence in myself even when things are not going good and it’s a grind, going 0-for-4 and things suck, you’ve just got to keep going.

“I always feel like in those deep stretches, I’m only one swing away, and that’s all it takes. It takes one barrel to find the timing again and find that click. It’s kind of how I view things, again just very confident in my skill set.”

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