Projo Sox Blog

By STEVEN KRASNER and JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writers

BOSTON -- David Ortiz batted on the field for the first time today in his rehabilitation from a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist.

"I feel good," Ortiz (right, in file photo) said following the BP session. "My first day swinging out there and it was feeling good. I feel like I'm getting back to normal. I want to go back and play. When you don't play, it kills you. Injuries are better when you take your time because if you rush, sometimes it's not worth it."

He also said he didn't feel any "clicking" in the wrist, but felt a little sore with the outside pitches.

And on his fifth swing, he crushed a homer just over the Red Sox bullpen.

Ortiz was in a group with Mike Lowell, Julio Lugo and Manny Ramirez, with Ino Guerrero is doing the throwing. In the first round, Ortiz dropped down one bunt, hit three grounders, a liner to left and then the homer. He hit a line drive in his next swing, too, and left the cage after his seven swings in the first round with a smile on his face. His second round was less dramatic, but Ortiz was hitting the ball with authority and didn't seem to be babying his left wrist.

Ortiz and the rest of the group finished up against Matt Noone because Guerrero appeared to suffer a back injury during the session. Ortiz' seven swings against Noone produced a liner to left, a homer into the right-field corner, a foul in the cage, a fly ball to the triangle, a liner to center, a homer over the visitors' bullpen and a drive to the right-field corner that hopped into the stands after one hop on the warning track.

In his next round, of five swings, Ortiz hit a grounder to second, a fly ball to left-center, a homer over the visitors' bullpen, a grounder to second and grounder to first.

In another round of five swings, Ortiz hit a couple of weak grounders to the right side, a liner through the hole on the right side, a one-hopper off the fence in right-center and a foul in the cage. In his final round, of four swings, Ortiz hit a fly to left-center, a one-hopper to first, a liner to center and ended with a homer to right.

"I was trying to swing the bat normally," said Ortiz, who has progressed from swinging at a tee to soft toss and a BP session in a cage in New York on Sunday. "I wanted to swing hard to make sure I don't feel anything. It was fine."

 Tags  batting practice david ortiz

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