BOSTON -- David Ortiz is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, but prior to the game Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park, he said he won't be returning that soon.
Ortiz walked into the Red Sox clubhouse with a slight limp in his right leg, where he's dealing with an Achilles strain. He even took batting practice on the field with the rest of his teammates. But before stepping into the cage, he admitted to still feeling pain in his Achilles. And until that pain goes away, he won't be playing.
"It's not going to be tomorrow," said Ortiz on Tuesday. "I'm still limping a little bit when I walk. I've got to be pain free before I start running.
"When the pain goes away," he said. "I have to make sure I'm pain-free."
Outfielder Ryan Sweeney's season is "close" to being over, according to Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. Sweeney punched a door after grounding out in the eighth inning on Monday night and had an operation on his fractured left pinkie knuckle on Tuesday. Ryan Kalish has been called up in his place.
"He made pretty good contact last night," said Valentine. "They had to straighten out his little knuckle. He'll be out for a while.
"Well, you know, boys will be boys," added Valentine. "The door that he happened to hit has been dented. It wasn't the first time. He just went at it in the wrong direction."
Boston Red Sox
Reliever Scott Atchison will get another opinion on his injured right elbow, and according to Valentine, doctors think he has a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Shortstop Mike Aviles had an MRI on his turf toe, as well as an injection on Tuesday. The MRI showed exactly what they expected.
"I think he's going to feel OK," said Valentine. "The MRI exposed the situation to what we thought it was, turf toe.
"It's not as though if he ran out there, he'd damage it, but it might hurt if he ran out there."