Red Sox Injury Update: Masataka Yoshida progress, Tyler O’Neill bummer

The Boston Red Sox shared updates on two key injured players before their getaway game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 29.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Masataka Yoshida will start swinging a bat soon. The designated hitter was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 1 with a thumb strain and his recovery has taken rather longer than expected.

Yoshida got three opinions on the state of his injured thumb, which eventually determined that he did not need surgery. His bat will be welcome back in the lineup after some offensive struggles in May for Boston — Yoshida was slashing .318/.375/.477 in his 13 most recent games and his consistency could take the Sox's offense up a notch.

The Red Sox also provided an update on Tyler O'Neill, who was sent back to Boston from Baltimore to have imaging taken of his sore right knee. The good news is that his imaging came back clean. The less-good news is that he still needs a stint on the IL.

Masataka Yoshida to start swinging soon, Red Sox place Tyler O'Neill on 10-day injured list

Boston placed O'Neill on the 10-day IL with right knee inflammation, retroactive to May 26. Enmanuel Valdez has been called up to fill his spot on the roster. Valdez is batting .230/.360/.527 with six home runs in his 20 games with the WooSox.

The slugger was in an offensive slump before he was pulled from Boston's May 25 game against the Brewers. He hadn't been on base in four games and his slash line dipped to .236/.343/.500. O'Neill still boasts the most homers for the Red Sox, though, with 11.

The surplus of injuries to the squad this season has conditioned Red Sox Nation to fear the worst when a player needs time off. Thankfully, O'Neill may not need long to get back to action.

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