David Ortiz said after Thursday’s rehab game with Triple-A Pawtucket that he’s ready to return to the big club. It’s hard to doubt him after watching his big fly in his final at-bat.
Ortiz went deep against right-handed reliever Michael Stutes in the bottom of the fifth inning of the PawSox’ game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Ortiz’s home run came on a 1-0 fastball, and it marked the first extra-base hit of his rehab assignment.
Ortiz went 4-for-18 with five strikeouts while with Pawtucket, so the results weren’t anything great, but the Red Sox slugger feels that he’s ready to contribute at the major league level.
“There were some times I could have walked, but my idea was trying to put the ball in play so I could run and see how this [Achilles tendon] feels,” Ortiz said after Thursday’s game. “I got the chance to do that and it feels good. So I’ll go back to the big team [Friday] and try to keep it going.”
Check out Ortiz’s home run in the video below, courtesy of WEEI.com.
