2003: .961
2004: .983
2005: 1.001
2006: 1.049
2007: 1.066
2008: .877
2009: .669
Those gaudy/then gaudier/then gaudiest/then less-gaudy/then not-gaudy-at-all numbers are David Ortiz’s OPSes since joining the Boston Red Sox in 2003. (Joe Morgan has stopped reading already.)
This year has been Big Papi’s worst since 1999 when – at the age of 23 – he got 20 at-bats for the Twins.
In the 20 months since Boston’s seventh World Series title, Ortiz has mustered a paltry 23 home runs (including a nice round zero through 17 percent of this season). This after knocking 288 dingers in his first five (substance-free, fingers crossed, jinxjinxjinx) Sox seasons.
David Ortiz is still our DH. There’s no questioning that. But continuing to allow him to bat third for a team that’s vying for its eighth world title (and its third in the past six years) is unconscionable.
He’s batting third out of respect. He’s batting third because of the past. He’s batting third because many believe he’s still a power hitter. A big bopper. A bash brother.
He’s not.
Ortiz is entering the twilight of his career. One of the best hitting careers the city has ever seen. The great athletes change with the times. Quarterbacks who could once scramble all over the field become stand-up pocket passers when the hips start to ache. Go-to slashing swingmen become spot-up shooters and fade-away artists when the quickness dissipates. And power hitters become just plain old hitters when that power starts to fade.
Big Papi shouldn’t be swinging for the fences anymore. His knees are bone-on-bone at this point. We, as New Englanders, have two choices: We can start up a cartilage collection drive, sponsored by Hood milk. Or we can convince Coach Tito to slide him on down the lineup.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
They dropped Magglio in the Detroit lineup from third to sixth, and the guy who replaced him went 3-for-5.
Ortiz just doesn't seem to be getting a lot of pitches. He's getting walked a shiite-ton. (A walk in Yankee Stadium, given the dimensions of right field, is a double.)
2 - ebooker
I don't get it.
If I'm Francona, I give him another month to turn it around. After that, keep droppin' him down a slot 'til he gets a hit or two..
Can we have Magglio?
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
Let me think about th..no.
4 - Aaron Whitehead
Changing the spot in the batting order is mainly a psychological move, and I just don't know that that's the problem.
In April, Papi hit 230/290/333. Last year in March/April, he hit 184/294/350.
That's not to say there isn't room for worry. Walks going up, batting average going down, power ebbing away . . . this is the fate of the Ortiz brand of hitter. But we don't know for sure.
His list of comps on B-R.com has the bad news (Jason Giambi, Mo Vaughn, Sexson, Hal Trosky, Hrbek) and the good news (Delgado, Berkman, McGriff, McCovey). His PECOTA comps are also a mixed bag: Delgado and Thome are 1-2, but then you've got John Mayberry, Greg Luzinski, Don Mincher, Boog Powell and David Justice on the list.
The Hardball Times stats are just as confusing. He's hitting more line drives and fewer ground balls, and his BABIP is a bit unlucky (.273). And yet he's hitting twice as many pop-ups as ever before.
The maddening thing about watching Ortiz is that we may not know he's gone until a few months after the fact. And like you, I feel like he deserves something better than that.
5 - ebooker
@Whitehead: I think the Mo Vaughn comparison is the most accurate one.
Too much bulk, those knees are buckling.
At least he got us two more rings than the Hit Dog did..
6 - Grampie Bob
Two words son; Mark Bellhorn. I think Francona is praying that Ortiz will pull out of his free-fall at the last second and he (the Coach) will be dubbed a genius once again. Or maybe not! Ortiz needs to take a page from Yaz's book; go "inside out" and knock that Monsta down!