SARASOTA, Fla. — Tyler O’Neill is getting the chance for a redo in 2026.

So far, he’s off to a good start.

The outfielder went 2-for-2 with a 107 mph double off the base of the left-center field wall, a single and a walk in the Orioles’ 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. O’Neill has reached base at least once in each of his first three games to open the Grapefruit League season, and he credited some mechanical changes he made over the offseason.

“Got down here early, been working really hard [the] last couple weeks,” O’Neill said. “Made some tweaks this offseason, just to kind of fine-tune the swing a little bit. A lot of good effort in the offseason with the training program and stuff. So, physically, I feel really good. Mechanically, I feel good in the box. Swing feels a lot better than last year.” 

O’Neill, 30, made mobility and flexibility a greater emphasis this offseason after injuries limited him to 54 games in 2025. However, even when on the field, he performed far below his career standards, hitting just .199 with five home runs and a .684 OPS. Some advanced statistics suggested he was unlucky, but he never felt quite like himself. 

“There was a lot of good things I did last year, too, but it just didn’t work out the way that I was looking for it to,” O’Neill said. “Regardless of whatever the expected numbers say, or the produced numbers, I was fighting myself in the box, through my prep, every step of the way. This year, I feel more fluent, more athletic and more balanced. I feel like a true hitter in the box right now.” 

A healthy and productive O’Neill would be a boon for Baltimore, which struggled against left-handed pitching last season and brought in both Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward to address that weakness. A bounce-back season from their right fielder, who will be playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic next month, would help flip that weakness into a strength.

“He looked great,” manager Craig Albernaz said of Ward. “To me, the at-bat that stood out was the 0-2 to the walk. It was great to see him do that. Barreled up some balls, but he did a lot of great work this offseason. So, it’s good to see him in a good spot before he heads out to the WBC.”

Honeycutt making the most of opportunity

Minor league spring training games have yet to begin, but outfield prospect Vance Honeycutt has made his limited chances in Grapefruit League play count so far.

After lifting a wind-aided home run to left field Monday, Honeycutt got the call up from minors camp again Wednesday and ambushed a first-pitch sinker for a 410-foot blast that left the ballpark in a hurry. The hit was Honeycutt’s third home run in four career at-bats at Ed Smith Stadium after he hit an inside-the-park homer in the 2025 spring breakout game.

A solo shot from Vance Honeycutt!! pic.twitter.com/yAfVqRHhYZ

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) February 25, 2026

“Last year was tough, and it’s a new year, new me,” Honeycutt said Monday. “I’m excited about it. Decided to get back out there and show what I can do and just kind of prove myself right.” 

The Orioles drafted Honeycutt out of North Carolina with the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, and he’s since struggled to adjust to professional pitching. Last season in High-A Aberdeen, he slashed .171/.284/.275 with five home runs in 101 games. It wasn’t all bad, though. Honeycutt stole 32 bases and his defense in the outfield rivals fellow Orioles first-rounder Enrique Bradfield Jr. for the best in the club’s farm system.

But for Honeycutt to have a chance to make good on his draft status and reach the major leagues, he’ll need to start showing signs of progress at the plate. With two home runs in as many games so far in spring, he joined Alonso as the only Orioles hitters with multiple long balls this spring.

“Baseball is a hard game,” Albernaz said. “Development is messy. It’s not linear. So, for him to come out and hit homers, we like home runs. Joking around aside, but the kid can play, and hopefully this kind of gives him a confidence boost. And again, just like another one, where the work in the offseason is showing up, so it’s good to see him come out here and barrel some balls up.” 

Around the horn

• Making his second start of the spring, right-hander Trevor Rogers allowed one hit with three strikeouts across three scoreless frames. Tampa Bay didn’t send many starting-caliber position players, but Rogers was methodical and kept the pitch count so low (34) that he needed to throw a bit more off a bullpen mound to get his full work in.

“You could say I kind of picked up where I left off last year,” Rogers said. “I’m just really making sure my body is moving efficiently and I’m moving fast. That second and third inning, I think last year I kind of got a little lazy with my lower half. Trying to be really upper body dominant, so that’s kind of my key the rest of camp is really get that lower body moving and making sure my velocity kind of stays where it needs to be.”

• Among the other highlights from Wednesday’s game: Ward reached base twice, including a double; Gunnar Henderson stole his first base of the spring; Tyler Wells tossed a scoreless inning in his second appearance; and pitching prospect Nestor German allowed one hit with four strikeouts in 2 1/3 relief innings.

• Reliever Andrew Kittredge pitched in his first Grapefruit League game and allowed a three-run home run to Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca. Kittredge, who has had a slow ramp-up thus far, threw 23 pitches (14 strikes). Albernaz wasn’t concerned about the results at this stage of spring.

• Infielder Thairo Estrada said he expects to see his first Grapefruit League action in the Orioles’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday after signing a minor league deal with the team earlier this week. The club also announced that Shane Baz will start the contest in his first outing of the spring. Dean Kremer is scheduled to start Thursday against the Detroit Tigers.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich. Matt appears as a regular host on The Sun’s “Early Birds” podcast.