Tyler O'Neill Injury Update: Red Sox OF receives 8 stitches, leaves game early following horrific collision with teammate Rafael Devers

Following a brutal collision with Rafael Devers, Tyler O'Neill had to leave the game.

That's not good news for the Boston Red Sox, who are above .500 thanks in no small part to the fact that O'Neill leads baseball in home runs. He has been a surprisingly good player for them, so they can ill-afford to lose him.

O'Neill and Devers both went out for a pop up in shallow left field. Ranging backwards, Devers made the catch before O'Neill collided into his back and immediately grabbed his arm and face.

O'Neill had to be removed from the game. He was bleeding from his face, and manager Alex Cora said that he had to receive eight stitches after the collision. Cora also mentioned that O'Neill was in concussion protocol.

Devers remained in the game, so it's unclear if anything happened to him or if his status is in jeopardy for the upcoming slate of games. Nevertheless, O'Neill will presumably spend some time on the bench, at least until his stitches heal.

If he has a concussion, he will land on the seven-day concussion injury list, putting him out for at least a week or more until the symptoms go away.

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Tyler O'Neill was enjoying resurgent season

Tyler O'Neill was hitting so well

If Tyler O'Neill is on the shelf for an extended period of time, it's bad news for the Boston Red Sox, who lost him and the game to the Cleveland Guardians today. He was off to a really good start this year.

He had batted to the tune of an astonishing 227 wRC+. For reference, Aaron Judge's 62 home run season only carried a 209 wRC+. O'Neill had also already accumulated a 0.9 fWAR, 10th in all of baseball.

His slash line of .304/.448/.761 is unbelievable as well. It was admittedly a very small sample size, but the outfielder looked like the best hitter in baseball. It will be tough for the Red Sox to withstand this and for him to not miss a beat on returning later this year.