Rehab Club: David Ortiz nearing return, goes 2-for-3 at Pawtucket
If, back in March, you took the injury-related discount on David Ortiz at the draft table*, then you're probably feeling pretty good today. Ortiz went 2-for-3 in his first rehab appearance at Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday, delivering an RBI on a fifth-inning single. Both of Papi's hits came off Rochester right-hander Kyle Gibson, one of the better prospects in Minnesota's system.
(*I took the discount, so you will not lack for updates on this situation.)
Ortiz has been dealing with soreness in both heels, but he was apparently moving well enough on Thursday. Or so his current manager claimed.
This from MiLB.com:
"He looked good," said Pawtucket manager Gary DiSarcina. "He was able to get his bat up to speed, and he wasn't favoring his heel at all. Plus he got to run the bases twice and didn't seem to have any issues there."
If you click the Ortiz video in that game recap linked above, you'll see a guy who would be a strong candidate for a courtesy runner, were he a member of your rec-league softball team. So I'm not gonna say that he looked great on the bases, just ambulatory. But you only drafted him for the 20-something homers and the RBI production, so his speed relative to other humans isn't really a big deal.
The plan, per most reports, is for Ortiz to get something like 25-or-so at-bats in the minors before returning to the Red Sox. The 37-year-old signed a two-year deal in the off-season that includes certain DL-related incentives, so he won't lack motivation to get back to Boston (and thus to your fantasy lineup). Prepare to activate.
