David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

[Vince]

WTF?

Loss of Manny Ramirez can't be that detrimental to him can it?

[phillyfan23]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

WTF?

Loss of Manny Ramirez can't be that detrimental to him can it?

well....Manny probably took all his roids....so it can be detrimental.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Economy has driven HGH brand juice through the roof.

[jake44np]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Honestly I have no doubt he was a major roider back in the day.
Just look at his history, below average hitter with little power with the Twins. To a major power hitter and then back to being below average.

[Beantown]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

I've told many of my friends that I would not be surprised if it ever came out that Ortiz was on 'roids.

That said, he's forcing his swing a lot this season. NESN has broken it down a few times and he's early on a lot of balls that he should be hitting out of the park. I don't know if the knee/wrist just aren't healthy or what, but...yeah.

[SPTO]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Regarding Ortiz being on roids. I wouldn't be surprised but i'd be a bit sad as he's one of the few players out there that actively talks out against it. It would look very two-faced of him to talk all that talk and then find out he's a major roider.

As for his time in Minny, the big problem then was that he wanted to pull the ball more (most of his very few HRs there were pulled swings) but the Twins hitting coach and manager at the time (Tom Kelly) were pushing Ortiz to slap the ball around and play "Twins baseball".

Anyways, I heard an interview the other night and apparently some guy at Baseball Prospectus believes that Ortiz fits the profile of guys who have a meteoric rise and a few phenomenal seasons then once he loses it, he loses it FOR GOOD. It can happen like a light turning off. There have been quite a few hitters who when they hit the mid '30s turn to crap right away. Looks like Ortiz fits into that category to a tee.

[DTX3]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

I'd be shocked if Ortiz HASN'T used roids.

[ryan36]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

An ESPN.com article quoted him as saying he's been drug tested like 20 times

[Beantown]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Big Papi gets the good ****.

[ryan36]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

I think he was using too...that's the problem. His swing has always had holes in it, until his head got big. I dunno, it's tough to see him as someone the M's traded for Dave Hollins of all people and then the Twins said goodbye to, as suddenly gettin to Fenway , and randomly blasting the ball.

[Misfit]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

I don't think he was on steroids. I wouldn't be surprised if it was found out one day that he was, just because nothing would surprise me, but he's been very outspoken against steroid use from Day 1 and I just don't think he fits the profile. His best years also occurred after testing was implemented and he was an offensive force as recently as 2007.

In Minnesota he had an inside out swing and was vulnerable inside. When he got to the Red Sox he was able to close down some of those holes by getting lower in his crouch and adjusting his hand placement. He started turning on pitches and the rest is history.

When I look at him now, I see a guy who has no base. He doesn't get as low in his crouch as he did as recently as '07. He's not able to keep his hands in sync with his hips and is really dropping his back shoulder to get down on the ball. The result is that when he hits the ball hard, it's usually a line drive. He's been able to use the opposite field a little at Fenway, but not with consistent power. His pull power has not been there, and I can only think of maybe 2 instances where he even came close to hitting one out to right field.

To me, he is just one of those players that has a short shelf life. I don't think anyone expected to him to rake well into his late 30's and the fact that his prime started a little late made his window even smaller. I hope this isn't the end and he's able to turn things around and put up a couple more quality seasons. I think that's more hopeful thinking than anything though and I fear this Red Sox - Ortiz relationship could have a really ugly ending.

[Speedy]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Look at Ortiz's line from the LAA vs BOS game tonight...

<TABLE class=tablehead cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 sizset="150" sizcache="1"><TBODY sizset="150" sizcache="1"><TR class=stathead><TD style="BACKGROUND: #00314b" colSpan=9>Boston Red Sox</TD></TR><TR class=colhead align=right><TD align=left width="44%">Hitters</TD><TD width="7%">AB</TD><TD width="7%">R</TD><TD width="7%">H</TD><TD width="7%">RBI</TD><TD width="7%">BB</TD><TD width="7%">SO</TD><TD width="7%">LOB</TD><TD width="7%">AVG</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="150" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="150" sizcache="1">J Ellsbury CF</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>.297</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="151" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="151" sizcache="1">D Pedroia 2B</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>.336</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="152" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="152" sizcache="1">D Ortiz DH</TD><TD>7</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>.208</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="153" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="153" sizcache="1">J Bay LF</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>.311</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="154" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="154" sizcache="1">M Lowell 3B</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>.299</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="155" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="155" sizcache="1">N Green PR-3B</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>.289</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="156" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="156" sizcache="1">J Drew RF</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>.238</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="157" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="157" sizcache="1">a-R Baldelli PH-RF</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>.292</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="158" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="158" sizcache="1">J Bailey 1B</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>.159</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="159" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="159" sizcache="1">J Varitek C</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>7</TD><TD>.235</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right sizset="160" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="160" sizcache="1">G Kottaras PR-C</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>.143</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right sizset="161" sizcache="1"><TD noWrap align=left sizset="161" sizcache="1">J Lugo SS</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>.349</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Blzer]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Beautiful.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

Ortiz going the way of the 1/2ner.

[42]

Re: David Ortiz...Zero home runs?

And yet they continue to place him in the third hole of the line up.