Well, according to the man himself, he sure does. In an article by John Tomase in today’s Boston Herald, Ortiz acknowledges that he has to do a better job at the plate next year, but he’s confident that he can still be the feared middle-of-the-order hitter we need him to be.
Says Ortiz:
“Everybody is used to seeing me hitting 40 homers with 140 RBI,” Ortiz said. “But I tell you, anybody will take 30 and 100. If I hit two more homers and get one more RBI next year than I did this year, what are people going to say?
Well, with the middle of the Redsox lineup still in a state of flux with Jason Bay’s contract status up in the air, I would say that’s nice production but not enough, sir. Still, it’s nice to see Ortiz taking the high road and saying he needs to get better. He later makes a big case for himself in the article saying despite going through the worst two months of his career in April and May he still finished with close to 30 homers and 100 RBI. We need him to be better than that though. Those kind of numbers aren’t going to carry us through the AL East any time soon.
I’m also a little concerned when he says the just about the only thing he needs to do is to start hitting earlier in the offseason. He’s going to be 34 come spring training and based on last year’s numbers he’s certainly facing the downside of his career.
How about taking some proactive steps to continue mashing at the plate? Like dropping a couple of lbs.? Do they serve salads at Big Papi’s restaurant?
Fact of the matter is that Theo needs to add a bat badly, even if Bay re-signs. I don’t care what Papi says about his production, and even if he comes close to the Ortiz of old next season we’re still not that good offensively. Get on it Theo.
