Slumping David Ortiz Given Time Off
May 15, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under Baseball
David Ortiz has long been a staple in the middle of the Boston Red Sox lineup. On Friday, manager Terry Francona decided to give Ortiz a day off. The manager hinted that Ortiz will be held out a few days in hopes of getting the slugger out of his slump.
The 33-year-old native of the Dominican Republic is hitting .208 with no homers and 15 RBI in 34 games this season. Perhaps his worst game came on Thursday when he was 0-for-7 at the plate.
Ortiz doesn’t have a homer in 144 at-bats — the longest stretch of his career without a long ball in more than eight years. Between 2004 and 2006, Ortiz had at least 41 homers in each season, including 54 home runs in 2006. Prior to last year, he had at least 100 RBIs in each of his five seasons with the Red Sox.
When Ortiz eventually returns to the lineup, Francona said that he will still bat third in the lineup.
David Ortiz, Red Sox
