Joe Ryan faces test vs Orioles slugger's impressive history in Twins' Opening Day matchup

If you enjoy sports betting (not that we condone it), putting your money on Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tyler O'Neill to hit a home run on Opening Day could be a good way to make some easy cash.

Betting on a player to hit a home run never seems like a good idea. Even if a player hits 60 home runs in a season, they're homering in less than half of their team's 162 games. Still, there's a major reason to believe that O'Neill will go yard against the Minnesota Twins at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Opening Day Thursday.

O'Neill's six-straight Opening Days with a home run is an MLB record, which he tied in 2023. His current record already seems unreachable, so increasing it even more on Thursday would be an even more unbelievable feat.

While it would be cool to see O'Neill extend his impressive streak, it would obviously be bad news for Twins fans. I suppose an O'Neill home run would be alright to see as long as the Twins win the game, but it'd be best to see the pitching staff limit the Orioles' runs as much as possible.

Twins must be careful when pitching to Orioles' Tyler O'Neill on Opening Day

Joe Ryan is slated to make the start on the mound against Baltimore on Thursday. He'll face a lot of pressure when O'Neill is at the plate.

Giving people even more reason to believe O'Neill could extend his Opening Day home run streak, the veteran has gone 1-for-2 with one homer against Ryan in his career.

O'Neill, who signed a three-year, $49.5 million deal with the Orioles during the 2024-25 offseason, appeared in just 54 games last season because of a neck, a shoulder and a wrist issue. He struggled when he was on the field, hitting .199/.292/.392 (92 OPS+) with nine homers and 26 RBI across 209 plate appearances.

O'Neill had a strong spring training with Baltimore, going 9-for-21 with a homer, four RBI and two walks. He also played in the World Baseball Classic for Team Canada, which ended its tournament with a 5-3 loss to Team USA during the Quarterfinals. O'Neill had just three hits in 18 at-bats during the WBC, but he had a solid .348 on-base percentage due to drawing five walks.

O'Neill appears ready to put last year's struggles behind him. It's possible his various injuries could have affected his performance. As long as he's healthy, O'Neill should have a bounce-back season, and the Twins should be careful when pitching to him on Opening Day.