Ortiz: ‘Achilles hasn't healed like we were expecting'

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CLEVELANDDavid Ortiz is sick of watching baseball games.

Originally the Sox medical staff and Big Papi himself felt like Sundays series finale against the Cleveland Indians might be the day when he finally returns from the 15-day disabled list. But that hasnt been the case as his right Achilles strain is still slow to heal, and the painsorenessdiscomfort hasnt subsided enough for him to start playing.

Ortiz hasnt been able to get through a full workout over the last couple of days at Progressive Field, and so hes still a healthy distance from returning until the pain goes away.

Im getting tired of watching the games, man, said Ortiz. It just hasnt healed like we were expecting. The doctor told me when I saw him in Miami that the injury would take four weeks before it started feeling better.

Ive started doing things to see how it feels, but theres no blood circulation down there like the rest of your body. I had a good day the other day when I ran. I was still in pain, but not as bad. But later on that day I got sore, so its a roller coaster.

Ortiz is hopeful that hell return at some point in the next week with games against the Orioles and Yankees coming up, but hes also wary of pushing an injury that could worsen significantly if he pushed too hard, too fast.

If you go back and play sore, of course you could tear it. Its not healed. Its not ready and I dont want to run that risk, said Ortiz. Im a free agent after this year and I dont want to have a surgery going into free agency.

So its let it heal and play when youre ready. Thats it. There are no other options.

Ortiz has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 17 after straining his right Achilles rounding second base on a home run ball, and appeared to turn the corner when he got a pain-numbing injection in his right heel last week.

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