David Ortiz's Achilles "Pain-Free"

David Ortiz was eligible to return from the disabled list on Wednesday, but thanks to pain felt over the weekend, had the resumption of his workouts delayed, making it a guaranteed fact he wouldn't come back when DL rules allowed. By Wednesday evening, though, Ortiz felt much better, a great sign for a Red Sox lineup that, while still dangerous sans Big Papi, is that much more imposing with him.

The heavy rain in the Boston area changed conditions on the field enough that Ortiz wasn't able to run agility drills in order to see if he was still pain-free doing something more strenuous than walking, and as such he's still a few days away from returning. From Ian Browne's notes on Ortiz:

"I haven't done anything outside yet. I'll do things outside probably in the next two or three days," he said. "The doctor checked me out every day, and he found less tendinitis on my Achilles [today], so that's good."

The Red Sox have hit .256/.297/.408 in Ortiz's absence, with the collected replacement designated hitters compiling just a .281/.305/.368 line in that stretch. There's plenty of offense on this team generally, but getting a healthy Ortiz and his AL-leading slugging and OPS back will do wonders for a club fighting to hold on in the wild card race.