Power Papi

Sean Riley
Contributing Writer

As of late its been the Red Sox bullpen that has been the weakest link and most inconsistent part of the team. Since April 20th, the MOST consistent thing coming from the Red Sox was their designated hitter, David Ortiz. Making another run as an All-Star starter, Big Papi has been lighting it up all over the diamond. The 37 year old slugger has five multi-hit games in his last seven and has triple crown worthy stats this year. Papi ranks 7th in the American League in average (.316), 8th in home runs (16), and 5th in RBI's with 55.

I think it's fair to say Papi's power has surged the Sox over the past month while their pitching has let them down. Coming into the year most would have thought the opposite, an old slugger coming off an injury against a re-vamped Sox bullpen. Oritz's 55 RBI's since his debut on 4/20 are the most in the Majors over that time span.

"I know I'm one of the forces on this ballclub and I know I have to bring something to the table for us to win games," said Ortiz. "I worked hard to get to that point. And here we are. A lot of people thought the Red Sox giving me that contract at my age was wrong."

Papi's contract looks like it could have been the best one made this off-season by Boston's ownership. That is of course if he remains healthy and continues to rip the stitches off the ball. I believe his numbers could/should remain if not get better than they are right now if Mike Napoli can get his groove back. Ortiz has been hot with Napoli ice cold behind him which doesn't always allow Ortiz to get great pitches to hit. Napoli's strikeouts look like they'll continue throughout the year but I expect to see another real hot streak like he started the season with. When this happens Papi will be staring down more balls flying out of Fenway Park.