Red Sox Roster Notes: David Ortiz Out For the Year & Daniel Nava Returns

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that David Ortiz will be shut down for the rest of the season.  After all, this is more than a lost season and with it coming to a close in just under a month there is no sense to have Big Papi return just to bolster his statistics.  Both Papi and the Sox have expressed interest in seeking out a contract extension and having a healthy, fully recovered Ortiz for the start of Spring Training is more important than him trying to club another seven home runs to get to the 30 homer club.

Everyone who follows the Red Sox is aware of Big Papi’s value to the team.  Since his absence in July, the team has sputtered along, failing to keep their head above water.  Rather, they have sank to last place in the division and appear to be quite comfortable as bottom feeders.  Ortiz returned on August 24 from his Achilles strain to suit up for one game and his presence was felt immediately when he delivered two RBI on a double and a single.  But upon further aggravating the injury, Ortiz has again been sidelined despite a  platelet-rich plasma injection two weeks ago that didn’t help the strain.  Instead it has forced the slugger to retire for the remainder of the year.  On the season, Ortiz is hitting .318 with 23 home runs with 60 RBI.

In other injury related news, outfielder Daniel Navawill be activated from the disabled list before Sunday’s game.  Nava has been out of action thanks to a ganglion cyst that will likely require surgery after the season, but for now he’s been given medical clearance to return to game action. On the year, Nava a slash line of .250/.370/.392/.762 with 4 home runs and 27 RBI through 67 games.