For David Ortiz, The Mission Is Home Run No. 2
For any designated hitter in the third spot of a major league batting order, zero home runs after 20 at-bats is kind of crazy, but after 149 at-bats is just absurd.
Ortiz hit only eight extra-base hits in 87 at-bats in April. He entered Wednesday nightโs game against the Toronto Blue Jays homerless and batting .203.
Numbers like that, under any circumstances, are unacceptable for a player in Ortizโs position. It wasnโt long before every kind of scrutiny unearthed itself and reared its ugly head at Big Papi.
Talk of Ortizโs lingering injuries, diminishing bat speed and yes, possible past steroid use, dominated the media when discussing the Red Sox.
Credit is due to Terry Francona for remaining faithful to his designated hitter, knowing his breakout would come.
He had made it clear that Ortizโs benching for the Seattle series (after an 0-for-7 performance against the Angels in which he left 12 men on base) was for the purpose of giving him a mental break, and that moving him to any other spot in the order was not an option.
โIf I said I hadnโt thought about the lineup, thatโs not true,โ Francona told Ian Browne of RedSox.com Tuesday. โBut I knew all along I really didnโt [want to move Ortiz]. David and I talked about that a little bit.
โThis is hard, because I donโt want to tell a player, โHey, if you keep struggling, weโre going to move you down.โ I donโt want to do that. I want him to hit. I think our best lineup is with him hitting third.
"Now, saying that, when youโre looking for production...and I told him, if I ever decide to change that, Iโll tell you first. And he understood that. The one thing I donโt want to do is start bouncing the lineup all over the place.โ
The west-coast relaxation looks to have paid off, at least for now. Ortiz looked like his same-old slumping self Tuesday as he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, but he busted out Wednesday night for his first homer and a 2-for-5 night at the plate.
Iโm going to play the role of โreality checkโ for Red Sox Nation right now: Ortiz is still mired in an early-season slump.
The whole first home run thing was great to finally see him achieve, but itโs only the first step to regaining the form of the Ortiz we all know. If he goes the next five or six games without a home run, what then will we think of him?
We probably wonโt be as hard on Ortiz as we have been, but we do need to stay on his case if he keeps failing to deliver.
Terry Francona remains supremely confident in Ortizโs ability, and was even back when he was still homerless. But itโs his job to have confidence in his players. We as fans arenโt so obligated.
Ortiz surely heard the boos resonating throughout Fenway when he was still pressing and struggling to get anything out of the park.
Despite all Ortiz has done for the Red Sox, he deserved to be booed off the field with the way he was hitting. As long as heโs hitting third in the order, he canโt continue being a near-automatic out.
Perhaps getting the proverbial monkey off his back was all he needed. Although it will take more time and at-bats to know whether Ortiz is really out of his slump, but one thing he knows is that weโll let him know about it if heโs not. But he can rest assured that if he finds the form he thinks he finally has, weโll be the first to stand and cheer.
โThe fans, theyโve always been so supportive since Iโve been here,โ Ortiz told Browne after the game. โThatโs unbelievable. Thereโs not too much I can say about it. I try to come every day and get it done for them.โ
We will remain supportive, as long as he continues to get it done. Not just this one time.
Posted in baseball Tagged: baseball, big, blue jays, boston, david, david ortiz, first, game, home run, mlb, ortiz, papi, red sox, season, terry francona, toronto
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