David Ortiz's rehab assignment is to start Thursday with Triple-A Pawtucket, and he should be back in time for the Red Sox to start a homestand against the Royals on April 19.
BOSTON — David Ortiz's rehab assignment is to start Thursday with Triple-A Pawtucket, and he should be back in time for the Red Sox to start a homestand against the Royals on April 19.
Ortiz is out with right achilles tendinopathy. Wednesday was Ortiz's third and final day playing in game-like situations in Florida at the team's spring training complex.
"He came out of it fine physically," manager John Farrell said. "His rehab will be transferred to Pawtucket starting tomorrow. His return date to us is still uncertain at this point and that’s going to depend on David and how comfortable he feels in the box with his timing, but we would assume somewhere in the 20 to 30 at-bat range would be expected, that he’ll need. More than anything, the last four or five days, he’s seemingly has turned the corner with more aggressive running the bases and the way he feels at the plate. He’s in a pretty good place right now all things considered."
Farrell said Ortiz's return for the Royals series was "hopeful." Pawtucket is home from April 11-18, starting with a 7:05 p.m. game against Rochester on Thursday.
"We'll talk to him each day after he plays and see how he's feeling," general manager Ben Cherington said. "He knows his swing. At this point, that's what it's about -- it's about at-bats and timing and feeling good at the plate. He knows where he is better than any of us do."
The Red Sox entered Wednesday 5-2 without Ortiz, perhaps a pleasant surprise.
"We've gotten production from a lot of different spots, maybe some we weren't expecting to get much out of," Cherington said. "That's what you need when you're missing a guy like David, a force in the middle of the lineup. You need other guys to step up, and that's happened. But certainly we're a better lineup when he's in the middle of it. It just makes it harder to pitch through the middle of that lineup. It makes the guys behind him maybe see some different pitches. Our lineup is always better when he's in it, and we're looking forward to that happening soon."
It's hard for doctors to predict how well Ortiz can stay healthy upon his return.
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