David Ortiz, the slumping slugger for the Boston Red Sox, is trying everything to get his season back on track. The next thing he’ll try is to check his vision.

Although Ortiz says he has always had good vision, he has suffered from dry eyes lately. On Monday, he’ll head to the doc to make sure he can see the big E on the eye chart.

David Ortiz - Can You See Me Now? (Image: Zuma Press)

The Red Sox would love for Ortiz’s struggles to be vision related. Right now, he’s hitting .188 with one homer and 21 RBIs. That is a far cry from a player who hit 54 homers in 2006, batted .332 in 2007 and knocked in 148 RBis in 2005.

In April, Ortiz hit just .230 and Red Sox fans were worried. But after the 33-year-old hit just .143 in June, those worries turned into panic.

Even though David Ortiz hit his first home run of the season last Wednesday, that didn’t turn around his season. In fact, Big Papi is struggling more than ever now.

David Ortiz Struggling (Image: Zuma Press)

The hefty designated hitter is batting .195 and has one homer, 18 RBI, 15 runs and 39 strikeouts. Last season, Ortiz was slowed by injury but wasn’t anywhere this bad. Right now, he’s one of the worst hitters in the American League.

There have been whispers of lowering Ortiz in the batting order to get him out of the three spot. Those whispers are now getting louder. The Red Sox have a lot of capable hitters and Ortiz has become a liability in the middle of the lineup.

According to a few sources close to the team, it sounds like Ortiz could see himself hitting in the fifth or sixth spot starting as soon as Monday.

Despite Ortiz’s struggles, the Red Sox have been able to keep their place atop the AL West with a 26-18 record. However, with the rival New York Yankees streaking up the standings, Boston’s time on top of the division could be ending if Ortiz doesn’t start hitting — or if the Red Sox don’t at least move him down the batting order.

David Ortiz has been given a few days off to clear his mind and rediscover his groove at the plate. His in-season vacation will be over on Tuesday when the Boston Red Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (Image: Zuma Press)

In the three games without Ortiz, the Red Sox went 1-2 against the Seattle Mariners. Their lone win was a 5-3 victory on Saturday when Josh Beckett picked up his fourth win and Jonathan Papelbon picked up his tenth save.

Boston only managed 11 runs in those three games so taking Ortiz out of the lineup didn’t exactly open up the floodgates. When the native of the Dominican Republic returns, the Red Sox are hopeful that he can find the power that has made him one of the most feared hitters in the game over the last half decade. Currently, Ortiz is hitting .208 with no homers and 15 RBIs.

One interesting note is that manager Terry Francona didn’t guarantee Ortiz would return to his customary spot in the batting order. Ortiz usually bats third but that could apparently change when he returns against the Blue Jays on Tuesday.

On Monday, Boston has the day off.

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

Firstly, thank you to the fan who brought the “Big Papi? More like Big Poopie!” sign. You, sir, are a hero. While I am immensely disappointed in myself for not coming up with that scatological nickname — indeed, I’m disappointed that I haven’t even heard it before — I am pleased that you, fan with Big Poopie sign, brought it to my attention. It is so delightfully immature that no one could take legitimate offense to it. Even though Ortiz hit a towering home-run, I could still chuckle at the Big Poopie sign, and it made another ugly Tigers loss a bit more tolerable.

Speaking of that Ortiz home-run, I also have to thank the stereotype fulfilling Massholes in our section. Thank you for turning around and drawing attention to yourself after every Red Sox run. Thank you for standing and trying to get the attention of the Tiger dugout girls who were throwing out free t-shirts, even though we were a full section away and those girls couldn’t throw farther than 20 feet. Thanks for making it that much easier to keep up my irrational hatred for you and your brethren.

On that note, thank you fan who threw peanuts at the aforementioned Red Sox fans, which, in a convoluted turn of events, led to their eventual dismissal from their seats. And thanks to you, overzealous seating attendant. You may have prevented my group from upgrading to the Tiger Den, but you taking your job so seriously was the catalyst in expelling the Sox fans. Great work.

Big Poopie, ha ha, great stuff.