Coming into the 2017 season, the Boston Red Sox were the consensus favorites in the AL East. They won the division pretty easily last year, after all, plus they added Chris Sale in the offseason.
The Red Sox did, however, lose David Ortiz to retirement this year. It's not a coincidence that, through 56 games, Boston has scored 61 fewer runs than last season. More than one fewer run per game!
Could a Big Papi reunion be in the cards? If nothing else, Ortiz has been keeping himself in his baseball shape according to someone who would know:
Big Papi is working out, and I know he is in baseball shape, and the @RedSox could use a bit of his bat.
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) June 6, 2017
Intrigue! Though Pedro later made it clear he was not saying Ortiz is making a comeback:
I didn't say David is making a come back, I said David is in baseball shape because he works out, and the team could use a swing or two.
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) June 6, 2017
And to further eliminate any speculation of a comeback, Ortiz confirmed he is staying retired while at a charity event Monday night. From Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe:
"No, no (I'm not coming back). Not at all, man. I'm happy," he said.
...
"I just retired. I don't want to be bothering anybody. I'm like that. One of these days I'll show up," Ortiz said. "I just want to give the guys their space."
Big Papi has maintained all along that he's done. Like done done. No comebacks for him. That's not going to stop the speculation though, especially since he's keeping himself in "baseball shape," as Pedro said.
