Projo Sports Blog

"He's pretty tired of answering the same questions."

So said Red Sox manager Terry Francona about slumping slugger David Ortiz after Big Papi -- back in the lineup following a weekend on the bench in Seattle -- went 0-for-3 Tuesday night at Fenway against Toronto, droppping his batting average to .203 and extending his season-long, homerless streak to 147 at-bats.

But the real question, as I posed in Sunday's paper, is this: Why continue to bat him third?

The Boston papers jumped on that bandwagon in today's editions, with a couple of columnists wondering the same thing: Why not drop Big Papi down in the order?

"It's our responsibility not to lose patience," Francona said. "I think our best lineup is with him hitting third."

As I wrote Sunday, Francona is loyal (which is a virtue) to a fault (which isn't good.)

There's no way that Boston's best lineup has a No. 3 hitter who hasn't hit a homer all year and is barely batting above the Mendoza line.

The thing is, Ortiz, as DH, has to be in the lineup. If he isn't, than the Sox should get rid of him -- and they can't do that because he's an old 33, he isn't producing, and he's being paid $12 million this season and next.

So, as tired as Francona may be of answering the same questions, we ask again: "If you're going to play Papi, why not put him in the No. 7 slot?

 Tags  Boston Red Sox David Ortiz

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