Fansided

Red Sox option: Give Ortiz some first base time

By Rick McNair |

For the Red Sox Mike Napoli has done little this season and the reality is Napoli has done little since he has been in Boston. The selling point has been his personality, his glove and the fact he had one dominant month (September, 2013) that was the push for a championship.

Napoli had significant off-season surgery that was supposed to correct a sleeping condition – it works for Napoli, but his bat has been in deep slumber since the season began creating a void against left-handed pitching.

Napoli was supposed to feast off the portsiders with a career .276 average and some serious long ball power. So far Nap has been a bust. The company line is still that “He walks a lot.” Wonderful. The idea is for Napoli to do damage as in a bundle of extra base hits and RBI. An Eddie Yost is not what they need.

Napoli is not alone in the misery against left-handers, but the most prominent disappointment. Pablo Sandoval certainly has that sinking feeling against lefties, but the BIG issue is Napoli. What to do to help rectify this?

Maybe think outside the box and make a shift – move David Ortiz to first base for some games. Now, before you choke on the morning muffin, I said “Some games.” Ortiz, at 39-years-old, will certainly not perform at the defensive level of Napoli, but the metrics and eyeball test show that Ortiz is no slouch.

Ortiz is more than capable of “picking ‘em” on errant throws, has relatively soft hands, baseball smarts and the range of a moose with broken paws. So the downside just could be a range factor that accounts for my caveat of “some.”

So who do you slip in at DH?

Most teams are now in the merry-go-round phase of DH with one of many may end up getting a shot. For Boston the move would be a natural for Hanley Ramirez and that would also mean to finally get Rusney Castillo released from his Pawtucket Purgatory and sent to Boston to help energize the putrid performance against left-handed pitching.

So, it could be a temporary or game day decision, but anything is worth a try to shake-up such a lethargic offense – especially against left-handers.

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