Ortiz: Gonzalez Is More Confident Than Pedroia (But Quieter)

David Ortiz spoke to the Herald's Michael Silverman about his amazement at what an intelligent hitter Adrian Gonzalez is.

We go back and forth but [expletive], I'm getting more ideas from him than he gets from me. I ask him every day, I'm like, "Hey, what you got?" and he gives me the whole information. ... I don't even go to the video anymore. I ask him, and I swear to God, everything he tells me is the same thing that happens in the game. It's unbelievable. He is extremely smart. Extremely. ...

If there's one spot on the plate that a pitcher wants to go with a hitter, it's away. And he has the ability to take that pitch and hit it out consistently. ... This guy can hit homers [to the] opposite field consistently, which is something you don't really see in baseball on a daily basis. ...

We help each other really good. I've always watched good hitters, see their approach, and get ideas. When I first got here, Manny helped me out so much when he came down to the hitting cage. I always watched his approach, the way he worked and how he much worried about slowing things down. Gonzalez is the same way. ...

This guy's got more confidence than Pedroia and you know that Pedroia's got a [expletive] load of confidence. He thinks he's unstoppable. This guy's got the same level of confidence, he's just quieter.

Rob Bradford also wrote about their friendship and Alex Speier has a follow-up and a neat table: Ortiz has hit 51.9% of his outfield hits this year to left field, much higher than any other season in his career.