David Ortiz is not going to be in the Red Sox’ Opening Day lineup, but manager John Farrell still hopes to see the slugger on the field sometime soon.
Ortiz was expected to work out inside on Saturday, perhaps even taking a few cuts in the batting cage. When it comes to the eight-time All-Star returning to the diamond, however, it’s really anyone’s guess as to when he’ll be ready.
Farrell didn’t want to put a timetable on Ortiz’s potential return, but he is hopeful that we’ll continue to see progress before the club breaks camp and kicks off its regular season slate against the Yankees on April 1.
“No because as we’ve put certain things out there then it can be perceived differently or more negatively than it is,” Farrell told reporters in Fort Myers when asked about a best-case scenario regarding Ortiz. “So we’re working off of David’s tolerance and the ability to ramp up the intensity. So the one thing,…what would we like to see before we break camp, that would be to see him on the field in some capacity, whether that’s running the bases, whether that’s taking BP on the field, that would be a reasonable goal, or reasonable step.”
Ortiz, of course, missed the tail end of the 2012 season with an Achilles injury, and he’s been battling pain in both of his heels this spring.
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