» David Ortiz

Yes that’s right… David Ortiz hit his first HR of the season in the bottom of the 5th inning off Brett Cecil.

I was hoping for a better picture… but you get the point.

Usually the first homerun from a power hitter on May 20th, is not something to get excited about. However Ortiz’s homerun is encouraging because he’s been getting under alot of baseballs and popping them up, it was hit to the deepest part of the ball park, and Ortiz is very likely to go on a tear over the next few weeks. 

You have to remember, Ortiz is a guy who while injured last season hit 23 homers and drove in 89 runs. It’s not beyond him while healthy this year to hit another 25-30 and drive in 100. I think the years of 35+ homers are over. But I don’t think Ortiz is done by any means. I guess I’m just optimistic, but hey I’m a redsox fan, and I traded to get him after the first 3 weeks of the season, trading Clayton Kershaw.

DON’T LET ME DOWN DAVID!

Red Sox 4, Angels 5

A long, dreadful…….horrible day for David Ortiz. Ortiz finished the game going 0-7, while leaving 12 runners stranded on base. The biggest offensive contributers for the Los Angeles Angels were Jeff Mathis and Torii Hunter.

Mathis hit an RBI single in the 12th inning, Hunter had a two-run double and an RBI triple, and the Angels beat the Red Sox 5-4 on Thursday. Ortiz has gone 144 at-bats since his last home run on Sept. 22 against Cleveland’s Zach Jackson at Fenway Park. He is one at-bat from equaling his longest dry spell in the majors.

“A guy like that who’s big and strong, he’s going to knock out eight home runs in 12 days somehow and he’s going to catch up with everybody once he gets that swing down,” said Hunter, Ortiz’s teammate in Minnesota. “I’m almost 100 percent sure both those injuries have a lot to do with his homerless streak.

“When you have a wrist injury and a knee injury at the same time, it messes up your mechanics and you’re trying to figure out ways to hit while you’re hurting,” Hunter added. “So you’ve got to tweak your swing — and that’s not his swing. But he’s going to be fine. I just told him, `Just go out there and do what you do, and at the end of the season watch what you have.”

Ortiz struck out three times — once with the bases loaded in the fourth — and left the bases loaded again in the 12th against Jason Bulger (1-1) with a dribbler in front of the plate.

Juan Rivera led off the 12th with a single against Manny Delcarmen (1-1). Pinch-runner Reggie Willits advanced on Erick Aybar’s sacrifice and scored when Mathis lined a 1-1 pitch to left-center.

Pedroia had four hits in his return to the lineup after missing two games because of a groin strain. One was a two-out RBI single against reliever Scot Shields that tied it 4-all in the eighth — increasing Shields’ ERA to 7.90 in 16 appearances.Ervin Santana, one of the mainstays of the Angels’ injury-ravaged rotation, made his season debut after missing the first 32 games because of elbow pain. The right-hander, who pitched in his first All-Star game last season, allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings.Brad Penny was charged with four runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings.

Source: ESPN

 I’m not worried about David Ortiz. And you shouldn’t be either!

David Ortiz will be fine! It’s May 7th and he’s in a slump! If it is July 7th and he still doesn’t have a HR, I’ll be singing a different tune. All signs point he’s coming out of it, but he is definitely in a HR slump. After one full month of baseball I’m not ready to write off a guy who came off of an injury plagued 2008 campaign and still hit 23 HR’s and 89 RBI’s. Granted he hit .264 but he did slug .507. Even at his awful pace, he’s still going to hit 85 RBI’s, that’s not terrible by any means.

If you’re in a fantasy league, its time to buy low on David Ortiz (I took a bigger gamble and traded Clayton Kershaw for Ortiz a couple of weeks ago). There is no way he goes all year with a .250 avg, 323 on base percentage, .215 slugging and zero HR’s.

One of my friends told me today that they don’t think David Ortiz is very happy with the Red Sox. I don’t think he is, but some of his comments do seem a little less upbeat than in previous years, not just with the Red Sox failing to improve the lineup, but with Major League Baseball and the steroid issues too.

Ortiz is very important to the Red Sox’ lineup. If he isn’t happy the team will suffer, though not to the same extent it did with Manny last year. Ortiz only hits, unlike Ramirez who hits and plays left. Manny is also a more dangerous hitter than Ortiz because he has no weaknesses in his swing, unlike Papi who isn’t strong to the opposite field. Ortiz will only hurt the club’s lineup because he is less of a clubhouse headache. Manny quit on the Sox in 2008  and caused trouble internally, while Ortiz just doesn’t have that kind of mindset.

Ortiz’ performance will suffer if he is unhappy, so the Red Sox may want to deal with this now, even if there is nothing going on with him. Better be safe than sorry.

I realize this isn’t a very important post, but it’s a slow news day so far in Red Sox Nation.

Jon Lester and the Red Sox have reached a contract extension that will keep the best lefty in baseball in Boston for another five years. Lester is one of three aces in the deepest rotation in baseball, joining Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett.

In the WBC, Dustin Pedroia is off the USA’s roster after straining his oblique. In a way, I’m glad the MVP is not going to be at risk for a more serious injury, especially if the team is going to play like this.

Ortiz and Bay are back with the Sox after their WBC teams were eliminated. Papi hit a home run against the Yankees on Friday, as did Mike Lowell. Julio Lugo may have a meniscus tear, as his MRI results were analyzed by a specialist who believes this to be true. Lugo will have knee surgery and may miss some time.

Most Valuable Papi

The one position that has remained both untouched AND stable through the years, contrary to popular belief, is NOT getting old. David Oritz has been with the Sox since 2003, and he has put up spectacular numbers every year. And unlike the only other 2004 winners still on the team—Varitek and Wakefield—he shows no signs of slowing down.

People use the same argument all the time: “he’s getting old.” Last time I checked, 34 is not old. I don’t see anybody calling 33-year-old Derek Jeter being called old, and he is in worse physical shape than Papi (in an injury and durability sense, not a matter of individual health), since he plays the field and hits while Ortiz only does the latter.

Ortiz is one of the best hitters in the game, and he has one thing on A-Rod, Bonds, Giambi, and countless others: he plays clean.

Papi’s numbers will go up to his 35+ home runs numbers from two years ago. Last year Ortiz had some injury problems and managed only a .264 average with 23 homers. A clear step down from his .332, 35 home run season of 2007. While those numbers were seen as low, who wouldn’t want their player hitting well over .300? And even with bad numbers, always remember David Ortiz+Bottom of the 9th+close game=Red Sox win.

Ortiz doesn’t need a backup in his role, but if he ever needs a break Francona can just pencil in anybody he feels like.