Ortiz may be back by July 25th

by Drugs Delaney on Jul 13, 2008 8:58 AM EDT

According to the Globe, David Ortiz is tentatively scheduled to return to the Red Sox on July 25.

Papi has looked good taking batting practice against high-speed pitching machines.

"I feel good," Ortiz said. "Actually, it was my first time hitting off the machine. I was acting like I normally do, locating, check swing, swing and a miss. Stuff like that. Everything was fine. That's all I need. Make sure there's no pain when I'm doing that."

"David did well," Francona said. "He did the machine, tried to simulate as much as he could, ball down and away ball up and in. He'll go with us to New York Monday and Tuesday and hit in the cage because he has some obligations as the guy who got the most (All-Star) votes to be there represent the American League and the Red Sox."

If all goes well, Papi will play 3 games for Pawtucket: July 17-19 against Toledo and head to Portland for 3 against Connecticut, July 21-23 (get your tickets now).

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Good news

Man, this Sox with Papi is a truly amazing team.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 13, 2008 1:32 PM EDT 0 recs

What a boost this will be...

now the only challenge will be fitting him in hte lineup without destroying Drew’s 156 OPS+

by jjbooth74 on Jul 13, 2008 5:29 PM EDT 0 recs

But what about this order: Pedroia, Drew, Papi, Manny, Lowell, Youk, Ells, Lugo/Lowrie/Cora, Tek. Ells isn’t hitting shit lately, and he hasn’t been stealing bases as well. With Pedroia batting lead off, we wouldn’t have 3 lefties in a row.

Drew cannot bat lower than 5th in this order any more.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 13, 2008 6:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

that's quite intriguing...

although i don’t know that i’d move DP out of the 2-hole (he is almost the model of perfection in that spot with his high contact rate and long at bats with plenty of XBH scattered in). Also, it appears ellsbury is getting out of his slump (310 OBP last 7 days compared to 282 over the last month) and ortiz’s presence in the lineup will only help him, if minimally. I agree though that we simply can’t move drew down. How about just sliding papi in at #4 and moving everyone else down? I know that creates L-R-L-L at the top, but both papi and drew rely on manny’s protection.

i suppose we are pretty lucky to have TOO MANY lefthanded sluggers haha

by jjbooth74 on Jul 13, 2008 7:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

I don't know if a 310 OBP is coming out of a slump

That seems quite bad as well. Batting Manny 5th could be done as well. And, yeah, I guess we’re lucky to have this sort of problem. :)

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 13, 2008 7:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

bad, yes...

but 30 points higher than the preceding month, so hopefully a sign of things to come?

by jjbooth74 on Jul 13, 2008 7:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

Maybe

I think Ells will be alright. We all overrated him a bit in the past, he won’t be the player we thought. I guess his OPS will come up, but I don’t think that at this point he still can make a run at ROY with Longoria.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 13, 2008 8:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Agreed that Longoria is the ROY

But Ellsbury is better than he has shown. Pedroia looked overmatched in May, and has been a stud for the past month. I think Ellsbury will similarly rebound.

He’s got to learn how to deal with being pounded inside. And I think he tweaked his wrist last month on that diving catch (based on nothing, but he hasn’t really hit since then). I’m hoping a couple days off will help.

One really troubling thing with Ellsbury – 27 walks in April and May, 4 since then.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Jul 13, 2008 8:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

Agreed on Ellsbury

He is better than he has shown, and will be fine enough. However, I think we all overrated him a little bit too much because he was so amazing at the post-season last year. Not that he will be like he has been in the last month or so forever, but I don’t think he will rebound like Pedroia did. His numbers will come up, and he’ll end the year with good averages. But he just isn’t quite the player Pedroia is.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 14, 2008 12:03 AM EDT up 0 recs

Oh

And about Pedroia, check this out from Extra Bases:

Pedroia fell one hit shy for the most hits by a Sox player before the All-Star break. He had two hits today to give him 124, one short of Wade Boggs record.

And he done that even having an awful month or so. This kid is something else.

It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

by MerryGoByeBye on Jul 14, 2008 12:07 AM EDT up 0 recs

Not Bad

I could definetly work. I am not a huge fan of back to back lefties but I could deal. Unfortunately I think Tito isn’t going to put up the best lineup for the team. There is going to be some bias toward putting Papi in at the 3 spot, which he hasn’t really earned this year because…...well because he is big papi. Unfortunately I think Drew is going to be put into the 5 spot and I hope he can keep the great hitting up from there. I think the lineup will be the same as the beginning of the year. Hopefully Ells will snap out of his woes and Drew can keep hitting from the 5.

by drabidea on Jul 14, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

In the 2004 playoffs

Manny batted 3rd, Ortiz was cleanup, and Millar ‘protected’ him at 5. We all know how well this worked out.

People are really stuck on the notion of Ortiz at 3rd. It makes more sense to have something like this:
Pedroia, Drew, Manny, Ortiz, Lowell, Youk, Ells, Automatic Out #1, Automatic Out #2.

Pedroia and Drew will still get good pitches to hit ahead of Manny, and Ortiz will get good protection from Lowell / Youk. Ells doesn’t risk making outs ahead of our power hitters – he increases the marginal value of his steals by moving lower in the order (a la Crisp last season).

by 0157H7 on Jul 14, 2008 10:41 AM EDT 0 recs

I like that order more than the one we had previously, but I’m thinking:
Ellsbury-Pedroia-Drew-Manny-Ortiz-Lowell-Youk-AutoOut1-AutoOut2.

by Charger567 on Jul 14, 2008 12:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

Agreed

I would love to see that order. I have a feeling that Tito won’t do it though and Drew and Ortiz will be switched. It sucks that Youk with a OBP of .381 won’t have anyone behind him to knock him in. I guess he will just have to hit a home run everytime.

by drabidea on Jul 14, 2008 3:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

I dunno. Youk batting 7th? Seems a little sketchy. Although if he has his usual second-half swoon, it might be the right move. Ellsbury at present isn’t getting on base enough to bat 1st. Moreover, now that we know he is mortal* and can be caught stealing bases, the wisdom of having Ells ahead of Ortiz / Manny / Drew is questionable.

*Rather than the Navajo Totem of Speed.

by 0157H7 on Jul 14, 2008 4:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

I totally forgot that Papi hit clean-up in the 2004 playoffs.

And I do like your lineup. But I think Tito will put Papi right back #3, out of respect.

Manny ain't the only bad man.

by tommy.otm on Jul 14, 2008 10:06 PM EDT up 0 recs

Glad you liked the lineup. Tito will almost certainly slot Papi at third. I just hope he has Drew no lower than fifth. The man has earned it.

by 0157H7 on Jul 14, 2008 10:51 PM EDT up 0 recs

Respect

And I’m pretty sure both he and Manny like the current arrangement.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on Jul 17, 2008 12:25 AM EDT up 0 recs

Strange

that Ortiz would request to play on Sunday and then after striking out in his last two at bats on Saturday, would then tell Pawtucket that he doesn’t want to be in the line up for Sunday. I was at the game and it looks to me he could use the extra at bats, unless he’s hurting.

He’s hit a homer each game, but he’s also popped up for easy outs in each game along with two K’s tonight.

by 4thturn on Jul 19, 2008 11:56 PM EDT 0 recs