David Ortiz had MRIs done on both of his heels this weekend and has been shut-down for 5-7 days with “inflammation” in both heels. The Red Sox have assured fans this isn’t because of an Achilles issue, which has kept Ortiz out of games since July 16, 2012 (minus one game on August 24th.) This injury is due to Ortiz amping up his workload, not because of his Achilles injury (though you could say that because of the Achilles injury, Ortiz wasn’t able to property workout in the offseason, thus causing the “inflammation” issue).
Ortiz is not doubtful for Opening Day and will likely miss the first couple weeks of the season. The Red Sox are pretty much the only team left in the American League with a set designated hitter; every other team seems to be using the revolving door approach to let players have lighter loads when needed. If Ortiz is out on Opening Day (likely), who DHs?
One option would be to have Lyle Overbay play first base and Napoli DH. Overbay is a career .270 hitter over 12 years, with 5 of those years spent in Toronto. Even though it’s limited, Overbay’s hit .261 (6/23) this Spring with 2 Triples, a Double, and 3 RBIs. At first base, he has a .995 Fielding Percentage in 10 years. Overbay is 36 this season though, and he was limited in playing the past two seasons.
Keeping either Lavarnway or Gomez on the roster to fill in at DH or the field is another option. Again, Spring Training numbers are limited (though they should start reflecting more in the coming weeks), but Lavarnway is hitting .143 and Gomez .200. Neither one has hit for much power either; a double a piece.
Another popular option I’ve been seeing is to have Jonny Gomes DH and Jackie Bradley Junior in the outfield. This would be very exciting, but Bradley hasn’t even played at Triple-A yet. Plus, his free-agent clock hasn’t started, so why start it now if it’s just going to be a couple of weeks before he gets sent back down.
Personally, I could see the Sox bringing either Overbay onto the roster or having another outfielder (either Nava or Sweeney, whoever doesn’t make the 25-man roster to begin with). Ross and Saltalamacchia could also DH when they weren’t catching, and they’ve both shown some pop in the bat (Ross hit a 3-run home run in yesterday’s game, and Salty’s hitting .389 with 4 Doubles). Either scenario I think makes sense.
Not much has been said after yesterday’s revealing of the inflammation issues, so either there’s not much to say or not much the Sox want said. Hopefully, this doesn’t become abigger issue like the Achilles issue Ortiz had last year. Let’s all hope that after some rest, Big Papi will feel better and start progressing his way into the line-up.
No comments:
Post a Comment