David Ortiz has tried to come back from this injury several times before. This time, he’s going to take it slow and steady.
Ortiz says he’s opting for rest, including taking some anti-inflammatory medicine, to help deal with persistent pain and inflammation in his heel as he continues to come back from an Achilles injury suffered last July.
“Opening Day was my goal,” Ortiz told reporters Monday. “Right now, Opening Day seems like it’s not the case.”
Ortiz strained his Achilles when rounding the bases last summer. He tried to rejoin the team for one game, but recurring pain and complications from the injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. After resting throughout the offseason, he planned to ramp up his activity in spring training and be ready by the start of this season, but he’s had trouble getting the injured area — especially the muscles and bones surrounding it — into peak form.
Ortiz and Red Sox manager John Farrell emphasized that the pain Ortiz is dealing with now is not in the Achilles, but rather in his heel, although the new injury is related to complications from resting the original strain.
“I knew it wasn’t the Achilles,” Ortiz said. “We had an MRI in December, and my Achilles was pretty good. And we had an MRI right now and my Achilles is not the issue. It’s just inflammation right behind it, and we’re working on that now.”
The goal now is to make sure that when Ortiz comes back, he’ll be ready to play for the long run, with the Achilles and all other surrounding areas in good shape.
