The St. Louis Cardinals recently activated OF Tyler O'Neill from the injured list. O'Neill, who was previously on the 60-day IL due to a back injury, opened up on the ailment during an interview, per MLB.com's John Denton.

“Pretty much everyday life was tough to get through, but I’m a grinder and I wanted to push through it,” O’Neill said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t even hold my baby girl — not even 11 or 12 pounds at the time — and I’m waking up in the middle of the night with shooting pain down my leg on a consistent basis. I tried working through it in May and I got a second opinion in June, and I’m happy with how the process went and how I’m feeling now. That’s what’s most important.”

O'Neill returns to Cardinals

Tyler O'Neill returns to a Cardinals team that hasn't had a good 2023 season. In fact, St. Louis is expected to sell ahead of the MLB trade deadline amid their current fourth-place standing in the NL Central. The Cardinals recently made a small trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, but that deal may begin a transaction-filled couple of weeks prior to August 1st.

The Cardinals will likely consider trading an outfielder or two. O'Neill may be a candidate to be dealt away. If the Cardinals opt to trade Dylan Carlson, however, then O'Neill would likely remain in St. Louis as one of their primary outfield options. Either way, it would be surprising if the Cardinals end up not moving an outfielder.

For now, all O'Neill can do is focus on playing baseball following his return from his back injury.