Red Sox sorely miss David Ortiz's bat, presence
BOSTON -- The locker in the back corner of the Boston Red Sox clubhouse is occupied, but those are not his belongings.
The position and spot in the Red Sox batting order are filled, but not by anyone wearing his uniform.
The clubhouse is filled with veterans who have leadership skills, but none remotely resembling that huge presence and voice.
David Ortiz, the heart, soul and spine of the Red Sox franchise for the last 14 years, is gone.
And he is not coming back.
“This wasn’t just a bat leaving,’’ former Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling told USA TODAY Sports, “this was a lineup changer that left. David Ortiz was the kind of hitter that forced pitchers to pitch to the hitters ahead of him. You’re talking about a different animal.
“I still think they’re incredibly talented offensively, but there’s no doubt they’re missing David Ortiz.’’
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The Red Sox, of course, had plenty of advance warning — 17 months, in fact that Ortiz was retiring after the 2016 season. Even after his magnificent year, hitting .315 with 38 homers, 127 RBI and a league-leading 48 doubles and .620 slugging percentage, Ortiz never wavered in his decision.
“We knew he wasn’t going to be here,’’ Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis said. “He told us that he was retiring after the season. We also knew we had to be the same type of team we were when he was here. There’s no reason to change your style, or approach to the game, just because he’s not here.’’
The Red Sox insisted all winter and spring they’d be just fine without him. They were almost defiant in their belief. They didn’t even bother to pursue another big slugger on the market to replace him, bypassing Edwin Encarnation and Jose Bautista. They instead signed Gold Glove first baseman Mitch Moreland to a one-year, $5.5million contract, citing his career 1.061 OPS (on-base-plus slugging percentage) at Fenway Park.
Well, one month into the season, the statistics reveal the gory details.
The Red Sox, 12-11 entering Sunday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs, have one of the worst offenses in all of baseball. Just three teams in all of baseball have scored fewer runs, while the Red Sox are dead-last in home runs with only 14 — only three more than Eric Thames of the Milwaukee Brewers and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals have produced themselves.
Red Sox ace Chris Sale is only the third pitcher in franchise history to yield two or fewer runs while pitching at least seven innings in his first five starts, but yet is just 1-2 with a 1.19 ERA, with the Red Sox failing to score a single run while in the game in three of his outings.
It’s that ugly.
When asked the reason for the Red Sox’s woes, shortstop Xander Bogaerts didn’t hesitate.
“David’s not here,’’ Bogaerts said. “We miss him. We’re trying. We’re trying to put up good at-bats, trying to get guys on base.
“But having him in the lineup is something the opposing pitchers definitely were afraid of.”
The Red Sox have had no trouble reaching base. They’ve got the second-highest batting average in the major leagues, and no team has struck out less. Yet, they’re left standing on base when the inning ends, with no one driving them in, shut out a major-league leading three times already this year.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who spent nine years facing Ortiz while with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, certainly was able to breathe much easier this weekend, not having to worry about when the big fella was coming up next.
“He’s one of those guys you always know where Lawrence Taylor was, where Michael Jordan was on the court,’’ Maddon says, “where David Ortiz was in the batting order. … I don’t care what anybody says, 'Oh, there’s no such thing as clutch.' That’s BS. There is, regardless of anybody thinks. David always had that propensity. You did not want to see him up there when it mattered the most, because it seemed like he always came through, especially here.’’
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The Red Sox, even with all of their veterans and young stars, simply no longer have that guy who scares the opposing pitcher, who changes the face of the lineup by his mere presence. Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals produced as many RBI in one afternoon Sunday, 10, as Red Sox cleanup hitter Hanley Ramirez has accumulated this entire season.
Why, they don’t even have a guy who says he wants the responsibility of replacing Ortiz.
“No, I’m not replacing David,’’ says Ramirez, who took over Ortiz’s locker, DH position and spot in the batting order. “I was already here. David could hit 40-plus homers.
“I don’t hit homers. I’m not a home-run hitter. I’m taking my singles right now.’’
Moreland may have been the Red Sox’s lone offensive acquisition during the winter to replace Ortiz, but he made the distinction, too, that he isn’t the one replacing Ortiz. Moreland has a league-leading 12 doubles, and two homers and 10 RBI, but Ortiz finished April last season hitting .321 five homers, 11 doubles and 19 RBI.
“David didn’t play much first last year,’’ said Moreland, “so I don’t look at it as replacing David Ortiz. There’s no replacing David Ortiz. What he did throughout his career, was Hall of Fame caliber.
Third baseman Pablo Sandoval insists it’s no different for him, either, who missed all but three games last season, and leads the team with three homers despite being on the DL with a sprained knee.
“David did so many great things for us in the past, we all know that,’’ Sandoval says, “but now we have to focus this year and do it as a team. We can’t worry about him. He’s not here. The only way we’re going to win is if we have 25 guys do what they’re capable of.
“We’re not going to have one guy carry this team.’’
Maybe the Red Sox will feel compelled this summer to get that missing big bat. Maybe they’ll be forced to trade for pending free agents Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals, or grab Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox. Someone, anyone, who could step up and become a power threat in the middle of the lineup.
“Sometimes things get into a panic mode when things aren’t going well,’’ Davis says. “I believe in being patient through the rough times, and not trying to force things.
“We all miss David as a person, and as a force, but I don’t want them to try to pick up the slack for anybody, or try to be anybody you’re not. Maintain your discipline as a player. Maintain your presence as a player. Play your game. I believe in our guys.’’
The key, of course, is for the Red Sox players to start believing in themselves as well.
“It makes a difference with him not in our lineup, obviously,’’ says Mookie Betts, who has two homers and 11 RBI, after hitting 31 homers with 113 RBI last season. “But we’ve got to turn the page. We just have to figure out how to make it work without him.
“We’ve got no choice.’’