BOSTON (AP) -David Ortiz strolled to his locker with a confident expression on his face. He joked – a sure sign his first batting practice went well.
Ortiz, on the disabled list since May 31 because of a partial tear of the sheath that surrounds the tendon in his left wrist, took live batting practice for the first time since the injury and hit a few long drives before the Red Sox played Minnesota on Monday night.
“ I feel good,” he said in the Red Sox clubhouse. “Great.”
When a questioner asked him about the six drives he sent into the seats, he replied, “You were counting, huh?”
Ortiz had a team-high 13 homers and 43 RBIs when he got hurt.
“When you’re injured, it kills you,” he said. “It feels good. When you swing the bat, you want to swing hard.”
He started by hitting off a tee last week before progressing to BP, and didn’t seem surprised by the results.
“I feel fine,” he said. “On the outside pitches a little sore, but not bad.”
He didn’t immediately know what his next step would be, whether it would be more BP or a rehab assignment soon.
“I’m just an employee,” he joked.
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