Please tell me Ortiz is not going on the DL.

[Matthias]

I am a huge ortiz fan and also an owner... so this sucks twice over... i'll be pleasantly surprised if he's back before the all star break but even if he is I doubt he'll be the same old papi, maybe never... looking forward to further reports today about his injury and the timeline for recovery

Huh? This is a very recoverable from injury... talking career-altering is silly.

[cannedcorn]

Recoverable...mabye, but I doubt it....see ya 09 Big Papi

[WaCougMBS]

I am torn. Papi is my favorite player but the guy in 1st owns him. I hope my Sox can find a way to win without him but i hope he is out until the ASB. Am i wrong for thinking this?

Yes...

I second the wrong-ness

[Jibmasterflex]

I am a Red Sox fan and in second place in my league, the first place team also has Ortiz and I am devastated. You never cheer for your fantasy team over your team ecspecially the RED SOX. Dude you are not even close to worthy of even wearing a B on your head you should be buried under Yankee Stadium

[shoelessjoetara]

I said this once before but last night it sounded like Francona was being very optomistic and somewhat confident that Ortiz would be back in a few weeks. For him to say surgery was very unlikely adds to me being confident that with time Ortiz will return around or after the Allstar break. Francona is not the doctor but has been involved with the discussions about the injury and has more insight about this situation. Big Papi is very unselfish and will want to come back as soon as he can. He wants to be around the guys on the team and will play as soon as he can.

[Another Blown Save]

Hopefully he can make a full recovery without surgery.
The Red Sox should be able to survive if he can return 100% by September

One thing to note is that because he's gonna miss interleague play, he's not gonna have 1B eligibility next year.

[PavanoAllstars]

I'm usually a positive person... but i am and will remain skeptical of the situation till we see a more particular injury report with a recovery timeline... the Red Sox brass has every motivation to minimize this injury in case they need to attain a bat at the trade deadline... other teams would exploit knowing Ortiz wouldn't be back this year etc as it would give them a better trading position... as for career ending, I don't think it will be career ending, I just worry it will be a career altering injury given the wrist and it's effect on power hitters... see Nomar...

I didn't mean to sound like some sensationalist going off on ill informed tangents... but the facts are this: the sox are going to be overly optomistic and minimize every injury detail possible, it's in their interest... the press will be dramatic and will throw around words like career ending injury and 60 days etc... we will know much more when an injury timetable is released, no matter how flexible, and once he gets the cast off in 2 weeks for his first examination

I'm the last to speculate, but they're have been just as many sources sounding bad alarms as there have been saying it'll be 2 weeks plus 2 weeks of rehab...

The Herald guy who broke the story co-wrote Ortiz's book, he speaks with David, and he wrote the most negative story yet... that was what I was responding to

As a fantasy owner and a fan of Ortiz, I hope he's back in 15 days, but that's certainly not a given, let alone probable

[Marino's Isotoners]

David Ortiz spoke this afternoon in the clubhouse by his locker. He was sporting a black cast over his wrist and lower arm, and a hope that he would be back in the Red Sox lineup in little more than a month.

But that's not a guarantee. After two weeks in the cast, doctors will check on the wrist to determine whether there is still pain from the tendon injury that has put him on the disabled list. If there is no pain, Ortiz likely would begin to resume baseball activities. If there is pain, the cast goes back on, and it might mean season-ending surgery for the designated hitter.

"I think the doctors say 70 to 80 percent of the people that had this, normally when they get the cast, it normally goes back [to where it was]," Ortiz said. "If the pain goes away and I still have the clicking, I probably can play through it and maybe fix it after the season. Otherwise, if I have the pain, I [might need surgery]."

Manager Terry Francona reiterated what he said Monday night, that it is unlikely Ortiz will need surgery. He also said that in the four times he's talked to Ortiz, the slugger has had four different outlooks on his season.

But no matter the mood, the big day will come in two weeks, when the cast is removed and the doctors determined if there is pain or not.

"They're going to get it off in two weeks just to see how I feel," Ortiz said. "If I have no pain, then they're going to start getting me swinging and see how I feel. Cause the problem right now is the pain. Every time I move my hands I feel pain.

"Everybody has like a little bracelet I guess that holds on to all the tendons. So when you stretch it, the tendons normally come out of position. That's what happened to me right here. Because it's kind of loose, every time I move my hand, the tendon just pops. So with this [cast] it won't allow me to move my hands around, so it will probably give the tendon the opportunity to go back where it's supposed to be."

Ortiz update

[PavanoAllstars]

great update, thank you... like the 70-80% chance he comes back!

[Marino's Isotoners]

Theo Epstein, meeting with reporters, stressed that the ECU tendon in David Ortiz's left wrist is completely intact, and has not been compromised. The partial tear, Epstein stressed, is in the sheath that holds the tendon in place. He likened it to Curt Schilling's ankle injury in 2004, when the sheath holding Schilling's ankle tendon ruptured. In Ortiz's case, it was not a full rupture, Epstein said, but a partial tear.

Because the tendon is intact, Epstein said, doctors are confident that if the wrist is immobilized for two to three weeks, there's a "pretty significant chance" the sheath will heal, which would make surgery unnecessary. The test will come when the cast is removed in two or three weeks. If the wrist is no longer tender and Ortiz is pain free, the tear will have resolved itself and Ortiz will begin activity that will allow him to return to playing status.

Epstein said "no one can fill David Ortiz's shoes" but that the club was satisfied with its internal options. That includes DH-OF Chris Carter, who was purchased from Pawtucket and will be making his major league debut. Carter was batting .310 with 10 HRs and 35 RBIs in 57 games. Carter got the nod over Brandon Moss, Epstein said, because Moss has only been back playing for a couple of weeks from his appendectomy and the club would like him to continue playing first base every day for the PawSox.

Epstein and scouting director Jason McLeod also offered some insights on Thursday's amateur draft. The Globe will have coverage beginning online tomorrow and in Thursday's paper.

Theo: Tendon 'completely intact,' surgery unlikely