David Ortiz is swinging the bat at a superstar level after having three somewhat down years in a row for Boston. The Red Sox DH is hitting .311 with 28 home runs and a .986 OPS. He’s justifying the $12.5 million option the Sox picked up, and he’s doing it all at the age of 35. Considering this is an age when players begin going downhill (something Ortiz appeared to be doing in 2009), it’s a surprise to see him slugging the way he used to. Ortiz is not shy about praising his abilities when explaining the big season.
“If you’re good at what you do, it doesn’t matter how old you get — you’re good,” Ortiz told WEEI.
“Dude, I’m a strong human being. I’m a beast. I’m strong as hell. I know how to stay strong. That’s why, at my age, you see me doing what I’m still doing. Somebody told me, ‘Guys, when they get to your age, there’s no way they can hit 30 homers.’ Really? We’ll see. We’ll see.”
Ortiz isn’t at 30 home runs yet but he should get there. Still, his career path remains somewhat of an enigma. He toiled in the Twins’ organization from 1997-2002 and showed potential, though he never exploded. After going to Boston he put together four superhuman seasons, topping out at 54 home runs and OPSing over 1.000 three of the four years. Then we found out he was using PEDs during those big seasons. Three down years followed. With Ortiz back to his beast-mode form, one has to wonder what’s responsible for the change.
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