O'Neill on Opening Day homer streak, his spring and Orioles' appeal

SARASOTA, Fla. – Tyler O’Neill noticed it a few years ago. One home run on Opening Day led to another and another until he had created a streak.

The Orioles begin the 2025 season with a four-game series against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, bringing the Burnaby, British Columbia native back to his home country. O’Neill will be in the outfield barring an injury or surprise lineup decision.

Why in the world would he sit?

O’Neill made history last year with his homer for the Red Sox at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, his fifth straight in the first game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, O’Neill came to the plate in the top of the eighth inning tied with Todd Hundley (1994-97) and Hall of Famers Gary Carter (1977-80) and Yogi Berra (1955-58) at four in a row. O’Neill jumped on a first-pitch sweeper from Mariners reliever Cody Bolton and cleared the fence in right-center field.

The ball sat on a shelf in O’Neill’s locker as the media swarmed him. Manager Alex Cora had a few lineup choices, but the new outfielder was an easy call – and set him up for a nice quip.

“I’ve got a five-game losing streak on Opening Day and he has a four-game home run streak on Opening Day,” Cora said, “so analytics.”

O’Neill is 2-for-8 with a pair of singles against José Berríos, who’s starting for the Blue Jays. The pressure is on to pad his record.

Well, not really that much.

“Obviously, it’s nice to start the season out with a bang, but I’m not trying to go out there and hit homers or anything like that,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay to my game plan and take my at-bats I normally would any other day. A little more adrenaline with Opening Day and lineup announcement, the national anthem is much better. Just everything’s a lot more fun for everyone, I guess.

“Last year I knew what was going on, so that was pretty cool and an awesome feeling for me, but it doesn’t really matter going forward. I just try to play a full season and make sure I can do what I can do on a daily basis.”

O’Neill got off to a slow start in camp and missed a few games with soreness in his left rib cage, but he was 7-for-19 with two doubles and a ridiculously long home run heading into Tuesday night.

At the plate with two runners on base in the fourth inning, O’Neill hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that got past Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette for an RBI single that increased the lead to 7-0. He smoked a ball Thursday that found a glove in the Yankees' infield.

O'Neill was 0-for-2 Friday night, made a diving catch in right field and came out of the game in the top of the fifth inning. He jogged to the clubhouse between innings while carrying his equipment bag, appearing to be fine.

The club was just being cautious with O'Neill, playing in back-to-back games. They can push him harder when the games count.

“I think it’s going pretty good,” he said recently. “I think there’s been a lot of good work done last month, this month, and leading up to game time, just trying to get conditioned and ready for a full season. So whatever the result are after that, I’m not too concerned about. Obviously, it’s nice to see some good numbers, but I just want to continue to have good at-bats. Just working through the whole center of the field and just taking things at a good pace.

“Obviously, leading into the first couple at-bats, spring training, you might be a little off-balance. I know for me I definitely am. But the more comfortable you get in the box, the more reps you get, the better it gets, honestly. As long as I feel comfortable in there, just trying to be in a good, balanced position, see the baseball and deliver the barrel when I’m trying to swing. Things are going the way they should, I guess.”

The Orioles signed O’Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million contract with an opt-out after the first season. He fills the need for right-handed power and a Gold Glove resume. That’s why the Orioles made an early effort to get him.

O’Neill had his own motivations for agreeing to the deal.

“There’s a lot of talent in this room,” he said. "That’s one of the main reasons I signed over here is their young core, and it seems like the chemistry in this clubhouse is great. So whatever I can do on my end to amplify that is what I’m gonna try to do. But they’ve got a great group of guys here.

“I’m really excited to join and play my part how I can. I’m really looking forward to the year for sure.”