Ortiz out for a month or more

June 2, 2008 at 11:01 PM

18 Comments

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According to Tony Massarotti, David Ortiz will be out at least a month and possibly the season:

After injuring his left wrist during the Red Sox�� victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night, Ortiz learned yesterday he has ligament damage that will keep him sidelined indefinitely. According to a source, Ortiz�� wrist will be immobilized for roughly the next month to determine whether the injury can heal on its own.

If it cannot, the Red Sox and Ortiz very well may face a harsh reality:

Season-ending surgery.

Red Sox officials confirmed after last night��s 6-3 loss to the Orioles that Ortiz has a partial tear of the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon sheath in his left wrist. The sheath covers the tendon on the top, outside part of the wrist. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game.

This means Kevin Youkilis is our 3-hitter for a long time and Sean Casey becomes a regular. Harsh, harsh blow.

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Discussion

18 Comments on "Ortiz out for a month or more"

Posted by Evan Brunell, June 2, 2008 11:29 PM

Why does Casey become a regular? He's good, but DH Manny and put the best OF D to work.

Posted by Sam, June 2, 2008 11:34 PM

I agree Evan ... if we're not gonna score as many runs either way we might as well do our best to prevent them ... still ... this sucks

Posted by hynes, June 3, 2008 12:06 AM

Are there are any call-ups that could be brought up with the move to the DL? Lowrie? Moss? Chris Carter?

Posted by hynes, June 3, 2008 12:16 AM

Apparently Matterson is being called up with the roster move. Tito mentioned the possibility also of Manny moving to DH and having Jacoby, Coco and Drew in the outfield. I guess this means that Bailey is also sticking around for the time being.

Posted by Joshua Hynes, June 3, 2008 12:30 AM

Sean - I'd heard Bonds never wanted to play in such a "bigoted" place like Fenway. Do you think he'd change his mind now?

Posted by Lyndsay, June 3, 2008 12:45 AM

I don't know, I mean yeah it sucks obviously, but I don't see this being a HUGE blow to the offense, I think they have the depth to recover it. this way they can keep doing the Coco-Ellsbury switcheroo, bring up Moss, and DH Manny on occasion, and use Casey. Casey's had a hot bat, and Manny's come alive again, so I don't see this hitting them as hard as you do.

Posted by Daniel Rathman, June 3, 2008 2:37 AM

Here's a question:

If Ortiz is indeed out for the season, could the Sox possibly make a run at either Garrett Atkins or Matt Holliday? The Rockies are obviously going nowhere, and rumor is that one or both of them will be available. Either of them would make at least a decent DH. I wonder if a package of Moss, Bowden, and a low-level, high-ceiling prospect (Kalish?) would be enough to snag one of them.

Another name that might get thrown around now that the Sox are short a significant left-handed bat: Adam Dunn.

We might have the depth in the minors to overcome this, but I don't see Theo sitting on his hands here. If it's clear Ortiz won't be back this year, I can't imagine Theo not making a significant move before July 1st.

Posted by jvwalt, June 3, 2008 7:28 AM

Not that I'm happy about the injury, but I'm looking forward to the defensive prowess we could see from an Ellsbury/Crisp/Drew outfield. (The pitchers are too, I bet.) I don't think Theo needs to do anything unless (a) Papi is actually out for the season, and (b) the offense is truly struggling.

And please, no Rockies hitters. Their numbers are highly inflated by the home park. Even after all these years of Coors statistics, Rockies hitters are overvalued in the trade market. Dunn, maybe, if he's cheap and there's no long-term commitment.

Posted by Zach Hayes, June 3, 2008 8:23 AM

I might rather have Casey at DH and Manny in LF than Crisp playing every day.

#10

Posted by JimT, June 3, 2008 8:38 AM

Please no Barry Bonds wishes. Also, Adan Dunn is a brutal swing and miss guy. I know that Sean Casey doesn't give you a lot of HRs but I would much prefer his better contact and OBP than Dunn's SOs.

I find it hard to believe that Matt Holiday is available. If its true then you would have to take a hard look. Put aside Coors Field stats, this guy is a premiere hitter.

#11

Posted by JimT, June 3, 2008 8:42 AM

A question: Is it too much to ask of JD Drew to slot him into the 3 spot? It offers the advantage of keeping the left / right swing in the top of the order.

I know that Youk is a better, more consistent hitter, just a thought.

#12

Posted by Sean O, June 3, 2008 9:18 AM

Thank god we have Wily Mo as a ready made power source on the bench right now.

...oh, right.

#13

Posted by Gerry, June 3, 2008 9:38 AM

We really are going to miss Big Papi, Big Time. Our thoughts are with him that this is a small injury. How do we handle his absence? Following are some temporary solutions:

Dear Barry,

How are you feeling? How would you like to win a World Series ring before your trials? How do you think you would hit at Fenway?

Theo

Memo to B. Moss,

Your high average, obp, slg, ops, HR and RBI rate, plus your much improved glove at Pawtucket, plus your great at bats and glove here at Fenway, require us to finally call you up for a long run and give you the chance you have deserved for more than a year. We know you can do it. Dave Murphy is doing it, and you can do it better. Get to Fenway now. And bring Jed Lowrie with you, as we will need a tighter defense, and all the BA, obp, slg, ops and power we can get during Papi's absence.

Tito

Trade several of our best prospects to get an extra 10 HR by the ASB.

IMO, there is no scenario (except Barry) to truly replace Papi's power, so a re-alignment is needed to compensate in a variety of ways; not a major shakeup, just a couple of changes that are justified at this time.

As Manny is having hamstring problems, and is on a roll, let him DH. An OF of Els, Coco, JD and Moss is fast, powerful, tight . . . balanced. Adding Lowrie to SS now adds a .300, high OPS bat and a few more HR, while costing little more than Julio alone.

A batting order of Els, Dustin, Youk, Manny, Lowell, Drew, Tek, Moss, Lowrie would make up for some of the power loss of Papi, reduce DP's, improve OBP, OPS and defense. What do you think?

#14

Posted by Lyndsay, June 3, 2008 10:08 AM

Gerry - Lugo??? don't forget about him! He's a very important piece of the puzzle!

#15

Posted by Joshua Hynes, June 3, 2008 10:22 AM

Man - why couldn't Lugo get a torn tendon sheath...

#16

Posted by JimT, June 3, 2008 10:37 AM

No Barry Bonds, nooooo!!!!

THe guy swings from the heals on every pitch regardless of the count or situation. Once a great player, over the last four years he has shown no regard for the team, no sense of situational hitting and has become a terrible outfielder. He brings nothing but the potential for a few HRs to the party. No thanks!

#17

Posted by Sean O, June 3, 2008 11:54 AM

Jim-

he'd be a DH, I think we can handle the defensive hit. I'll happily take a .276 .480 .565 hitter.

#18

Posted by Sean O, June 3, 2008 2:09 PM

Pretty sure Bonds would do anything out of spite right now. He'd probably relish the opportunity just to take any negative comment, utterance, or strange look as proof of everybody's undying racism.

Can anyone honestly say you wouldn't love to see a CHB/Bonds confrontation? It would be classic.

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