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BOSTON — David Ortiz enjoys playing first base. Sometimes.
Red Sox manager John Farrell threw everyone a curveball Sunday when he started Ortiz at first base for the club’s series finale against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park. It marked Ortiz’s first start at first base in a non-interleague game since Aug. 5, 2006, against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“When I play first base, it’s kind of fun because I’m not just thinking about hitting,” said Ortiz, a full-time designated hitter for the bulk of his major league career. “My only problem is I’m not 20 (years old) anymore, so it catches up with me at some point. But it’s fun.
“When I play first base every once in a while, it distracts me to something else, know what I’m saying? Which is good, because when you’re thinking about hitting, hitting, hitting, hitting, and at the time you’re not swinging well, you probably get stuck on that.”
Ortiz has swung the bat better of late after a very slow start to the season. First baseman Mike Napoli, however, has struggled for most of 2015, forcing Farrell to get creative with his lineup card.
One shouldn’t expect to see Ortiz at first base for many non-interleague games. At 39 years old, he’s considered the Red Sox’s full-time DH. But Ortiz can hold his own in the field despite not using a glove often.
“There’s complete confidence in his ability to play the position,” Farrell said. “That was part of some of the conversation in getting him to this point. He’s willing to do whatever to give us our best chance to win today.
“Any time David’s name comes up, you think DH,” the skipper added. “And yet every game that we’ve seen him play first base, he plays it freely, he plays it naturally and expect that to take place here (Sunday).”
Napoli entered Sunday hitting .192 with a .294 on-base percentage and 78 strikeouts in 76 games. He’s gone 2-for-27 with nine strikeouts over his last eight contests. Both Ortiz and Farrell expect the veteran first baseman to turn things around. And Big Papi could help facilitate that turnaround by adding more to his own plate, at least for the time being.
“I guess it’s a one-day kind of thing. We’ll see how it goes,” Ortiz said of playing first base. “You can have me play a game or two at first base, but everything takes some preparation. To be out there every day, you’ve got to get prepared for that. That’s not something that I worked on just because of the fact that I’m not a first baseman anymore.”
A first baseman, Ortiz is not. A willing teammate, he is.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
