O'Neill hoping to return to baseball activity this week

ST. LOUIS -- Claiming to be pain-free for the first time in more than a month after consulting with a Southern California-based back specialist and receiving two pain-killing injections, Cardinals outfielder Tyler O'Neill is hopeful he can restart baseball activities later this week.

Unable to shake the back pain that bothered him in late April and landed him on the 10-day injured list on May 5, the 27-year-old O’Neill sought a second opinion from famed back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins. O’Neill said he ultimately received a cortisone/lidocaine injection and an epidural nerve-blocking injection in his back on June 1. He was then ordered to refrain from most physical activity for 14 days with hopes that he can begin baseball drills on Thursday after a follow-up consultation with doctors.

“It’s been 10 days now and I’m feeling a lot better these last couple of days,” said O’Neill, the Cardinals' Opening Day center fielder who shifted back to left field in mid-April. “It’s been quite the up and down roller coaster for me this last month, but I feel like I’m back on the right track now. Having no pain with everyday activity is a big plus for me.

“I’m on doctor’s orders right now with a core program and what that timetable looks like, so hopefully later this week we start getting into baseball activities and then we can ramp up accordingly from there.”

O’Neill, an eighth-place finisher in voting for the NL MVP Award in 2021, hoped to use this season as a big bounce-back year following a 2022 season that was marred by repeated hamstring strains and a shoulder injury. However, he’s played just 29 games after missing the past five weeks with the back injury.

O’Neill stopped and started several attempts to return to the Cardinals only to have intense pain return in his lower back each time. O’Neill said he was in so much pain recently that even carrying his nearly 1-year-old daughter around has been troublesome.

“There has been a couple of shutdowns back in May and the toughest part was mentally having to deal with that,” said O’Neill, who hit just .228 with two home runs and six RBIs early in the season. “Having to go home and all I can do is think because I’m incapacitated with physical activity. It just got to a point where something had to be done and we had to change up what we were doing here. I’m just really thankful for the people in my corner, the medical staff and the people who got me in the position that I am in right now. I can finally, right now at least, see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, I like where I’m at.”

The muscular O’Neill, who has a long history of weightlifting and body building in his family history, said he’s been limited to sit-ups, glute bridges and stretching in recent days, noting that he hopes to “come back with a 10-pack” of abdomen muscles. He said he already has a great sense of relief because he no longer feels intense pain from an injury that has always been diagnosed simply as a back strain.

“There was just a buildup from inflammation that wasn’t going away, and we think it was from the persistent spasms,” O’Neill said. “We’re just doing what we can to negate those and get back on the right track. Getting rid of the inflammation that wasn’t going away was big. I’m really positive with where I’m at right now. Over the last couple of days there has been no pain with me doing anything, so I just want to progress from here.”

Playing without O’Neill, Lars Nootbaar (back spasms) and Dylan Carlson (left ankle sprain) for several weeks, the Cardinals had to move former Gold Glove second baseman Tommy Edman into center field. Fellow Gold Glover Brendan Donovan, who also came up as an infielder, has also spent time in the outfield with rookies Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson.

“As we inch closer to baseball activities, we’ll see where he’s at,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of O’Neill.