Don Orsillo States Ortiz going through a "tough stretch"

[SimplyMarie]

While doing commentary for tonight's game, Orsillo stated that Ortiz was going through a "tough stretch" ( read..slump) and that the Sox have reason to be concerned.

For his part, Ortiz states that he is not concerned. His timing is a bit off as is his perception of the strike zone. That his numbers aren't lower in spite of this is a testament to how good a first half season he had. But..should we be concerned? We are going knocking on the door of September. Sox are doing okay without his bat..but it would be good if he could work out this issue.

[sk7326]

While doing commentary for tonight's game, Orsillo stated that Ortiz was going through a "tough stretch" ( read..slump) and that the Sox have reason to be concerned.

For his part, Ortiz states that he is not concerned. His timing is a bit off as is his perception of the strike zone. That his numbers aren't lower in spite of this is a testament to how good a first half season he had. But..should we be concerned? We are going knocking on the door of September. Sox are doing okay without his bat..but it would be good if he could work out this issue.

 

if it's health - it's one thing. if it is just a slump, then he'll be ok.

[Thunder]

Does this really need to be a thread?

[Spitball]

Slumps will happen. I won't worry until it becomes a prolonged situation.

[Orange Juiced]

Does this really need to be a thread?

 

What is with this intense concern over new threads here? Why do people care that new threads get started? If it's a bad thread, it'll quickly die a deserved death.

[Spitball]

What is with this intense concern over new threads here? Why do people care that new threads get started? If it's a bad thread, it'll quickly die a deserved death.

 

You can't really control the posts of others, you can only control your response to those posters...and I need to listen to that advice more than most.

[Youk Of The Nation]

What is with this intense concern over new threads here? Why do people care that new threads get started? If it's a bad thread, it'll quickly die a deserved death.

 

Considering that you are the one who starts about 80 percent of them, I would say your viewpoint is a little biased.

[mvp 78]

Ortiz is getting old. Eventually, the slump will be permanent. Let's hope that doesn't happen this year.

[a700hitter]

This is a slump. That's all it is. He hadn't had a slump all year long and he was hitting at a career high average before the slump. He wasn't going to hit .330-340 at age 37. A slump was inevitable, and I am surprised that it hadn't come sooner with the lack of protection behind him. I think he will get fewer opportunities to hurt teams as the season comes to a close. The guys behind him will have to step up.

[Behindenemylines]

It seams this slump happened as the Sox were forced to use Papi at 1B on the last west coast trip against NL teams. He doesn't play there often and I think this added stress on a 37 year old body. Didn't he have some back issues that week as well? I sure this had something to do with it. So that combination of things has probably thrown off his timing. An when pitchers are throwing 90 plus that little bit is a matter of getting a hit or striking out. Because others in the lineup have gotten hot not a big deal has been made of it yet. Hopefully, last night's big hit means that he may be coming out of it for the stretch run in September. I said for along time that not using the DH in National League ballparks is a huge advantage for NL teams.

[SimplyMarie]

This is a slump. That's all it is. He hadn't had a slump all year long and he was hitting at a career high average before the slump. He wasn't going to hit .330-340 at age 37. A slump was inevitable, and I am surprised that it hadn't come sooner with the lack of protection behind him. I think he will get fewer opportunities to hurt teams as the season comes to a close. The guys behind him will have to step up.

 

I agree that the guys behind him have to step up and it seems they are doing that for the most part. Hopefully Ortiz broke the slump last night. The team is only better when he is hot and I still have memories of last year's epic September collapse.

[SimplyMarie]

Agreed! I think he has actually exceeded the expectations of a lot of naysayers at the beginning of the season. There's been talk that his back is bothering him. No talk about his Achilles so I think he is probably over that for good.

[jung]

Ortiz will work his way out of this. My only issue is when because he is swinging at some pitches he should not be swinging at, his hands are now all over the place and he has been late on the FB.

 

Trying too hard to pull the ball will go away for sure IMO. Swinging at bad pitches for Ortiz is a matter of frustration IMO not bad pitch recognition. So I think that goes away as well. His hands being all over the place and his timing being off will also go away.....just a matter of when.

 

The sooner he stops swinging at junk and/or stuff he has never been able to hit for a career and the sooner he gets over this whole thing of trying to knock everything over the RF fence, the faster everything else will come back.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Does this really need to be a thread?

Does this really need to be a post?

[BigPapi]

With another rbi double today, get this thread outta here. This thread did help papi get back on track, whether he knows it or not.