David Ortiz’s return from the disabled list proved to be a short one.
The Boston Red Sox placed the ailing designated hitter back on the shelf on Monday, just one game after his return to action from a strained Achilles Tendon.
The eight-time All-Star had missed 35 games after originally being placed on the DL on July 17. He aggravated the injury on Friday while playing against Kansas City in his first game back after being activated. It’s questionable whether Ortiz returns again this season.
“There’s nothing that I need to have fixed for now,” he said. “That’s part of the reason I want to be careful with it because I don’t want to get to the point where I’m playing sore. If you’re sore, you know that your body is telling you something. And if you continue [to play hurt], then it causes you to have surgery.”
As part of his treatment, the 36-year-old slugger affectionately known as “Big Papi” is expected to have today received a platelet-rich plasma injection in the area of the strain. Ortiz had received a similar treatment following knee surgery in November and marveled at the procedure’s effectiveness.
His condition will be further evaluated afterwards.
Ortiz remains confident that he will not need any offseason surgery, saying that it was just a matter of pulling back and letting his body heal.
He and the Red Sox did just that on Monday.
Boston went 13-22 during Ortiz’s initial absence. He immediately made a difference in his return to the lineup on Friday, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs against the Royals. Soreness, however, prevented from playing any further in last weekend’s three-game series with Kansas City.
Prior to the injury, Ortiz was enjoying one of his best seasons ever, hitting .318 with 23 homeruns and 60 RBIs.
Outfielder Ryan Kalish was recalled from Triple-A Pawucket to take his place on the roster.
