Every game matters as the Boston Red Sox try to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021. While they need some help to get to the postseason, it is still in reach for them.
The Red Sox were three games back of a playoff spot after a 12-3 blowout win against the Orioles on Sept. 9. Some of the team's biggest struggles this season have come against lefty pitchers, so they needed to pounce on Orioles rookie southpaw Cade Povich early. And they did.
In the third inning, Tyler O'Neill drilled a fastball from Povich into the Green Monster seats to give his team a 4-1 lead. The blast was his first of two back-to-back homers with Rob Refsnyder on the night.
O'Neill's shot padded his already good stats against lefty pitching, as it gave him a .889 slugging percentage against fastballs from lefties, which tied him for the second-best mark in the majors. He added to it later in the series.
O'Neill secured Boston's series win over the Orioles with a walk-off homer against Keegan Akin, yet another lefty, on Sept. 11. After the bomb that kept Boston's playoff opes alive, O'Neill holds sole possession of the best slugging percentage against lefties in the league, ahead of Aaron Judge and Ketel Marte.
Keep 'em coming! 👏 pic.twitter.com/e3RlbZoePE
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 10, 2024
Tyler O'Neill has been the Red Sox's best hitter against lefties this year
While Refsnyder is deservedly known as the lefty killer, O'Neill's punishment against southpaws can't be overshadowed. The .889 OPS against fastballs from lefties is tied with Judge for second-best in the league, which is already pretty good company to keep. Heck, he probably surpassed Judge when he took Cole Irvin deep later in the game.
The only player with a higher slugging percentage against fastballs by lefty pitching is Heliot Ramos of the San Francisco Giants who owns a .955 slug. The two-homer game was O'Neill's seventh multi-homer game of the year, tied with Yordan Alvarez for the most.
O'Neill also passed Rafael Devers for the team lead in home runs with his two-homer showing, giving him 29 long balls to Devers' 28. He's been hitting the ball hard all year, and he ranks in the 97th percentile in barrel percentage, 89th percentile in hard hit percentage, and the 83rd percentile in average exit velocity, all according to Baseball Savant. Not bad for a guy who's about to hit free agency.