I went to the Jays game on Saturday against the Red Sox, and had the pleasure of getting a first-hand look at the decline of David Ortiz. All I can say is wow. He was bailing out on breaking balls from LHP Brian Tallet and check swinging the majority of fastballs. Needless to say, he looked awful, going 0-4 with a couple of K’s.
The Red Sox have dropped him to sixth in the batting order, but it is surprising to see him even that high. The guy hitting behind him, Jason Varitek, has ten times more home runs than him. Who would have thought we would see the day when Varitek has ten times as many home runs as Big Papi? I am surprised he was even pencilled into the line-up against a LHP in a big game against a division rival. He was also of course booed heartily at every chance, bringing to light many fans beliefs that he may have been involved with PED’s.
It will be interesting to see how Ortiz bounces back from this terrible start. If this is indeed the end of the road, hopefully Red Sox fans will be able to remember him as the man who brought joy and two World Series titles to Boston, and not the player he has been so far this year.
As a side note, hopefully OF Rocco Baldelli is OK. He left the game after crashing hard into the wall in foul territory chasing down a fly ball. For a guy who has been through much as he had, this would be another unfortunate injury. You have to love how hard he went after the ball though; he still has the heart to play.
MLB INSIGHTS 