9:03 AM Wed, May 20, 2009 | Permalink
Jim Donaldson  Email
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"He's pretty tired of answering the same questions."
So said Red Sox manager Terry Francona about slumping slugger David Ortiz after Big Papi -- back in the lineup following a weekend on the bench in Seattle -- went 0-for-3 Tuesday night at Fenway against Toronto, droppping his batting average to .203 and extending his season-long, homerless streak to 147 at-bats.
But the real question, as I posed in Sunday's paper, is this: Why continue to bat him third?
The Boston papers jumped on that bandwagon in today's editions, with a couple of columnists wondering the same thing: Why not drop Big Papi down in the order?
"It's our responsibility not to lose patience," Francona said. "I think our best lineup is with him hitting third."
As I wrote Sunday, Francona is loyal (which is a virtue) to a fault (which isn't good.)
There's no way that Boston's best lineup has a No. 3 hitter who hasn't hit a homer all year and is barely batting above the Mendoza line.
The thing is, Ortiz, as DH, has to be in the lineup. If he isn't, than the Sox should get rid of him -- and they can't do that because he's an old 33, he isn't producing, and he's being paid $12 million this season and next.
So, as tired as Francona may be of answering the same questions, we ask again: "If you're going to play Papi, why not put him in the No. 7 slot?
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Drop him to 5th or 7th! Its a win-win situation. If he continues to struggle, THAT IS WHY YOU ARE BATTING DOWN IN THE ORDER. If he gets hot and starts to hit, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE THE PRESSURE OF HITTING IN THE THIRD SPOT. Maybe Colorado would consider a Ortiz for Helton deal and save about $15M-$20M ?
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How can you bat him lower? He's a rolling road block. If he's down at the bottom, and then somebody with wheels gets behind him, what do you do? Pull him for a pinch runner? What if it's the third inning?
Play him at first a couple of days... get him back into the game.
Otherwise... old and overpaid... starting to look like the Yankees!
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