Ortiz Has Inflammation In Both Heels, Opening Day In Doubt

March 11 UPDATE: David Ortiz speaks:

I knew there was something that was not normal. I was getting pain four or five hours after I was finished with my workout. ... It's not anything crazy, thank God. But it's going to take a couple of weeks to get fixed. ...

The one thing that we really are working on is when I'm back, I'm back. It's not just coming back for a couple of weeks and go back to the same thing. They're trying to fix the whole thing. That way when I get back in the lineup, I'm going to be in there for the season. ...

Right now, Opening Day seems like it's not the case. The case is get me healthy for five or five and a half good months.

Which means Ortiz could be back in the lineup mid-April or May 1.

After David Ortiz had MRIs done on both of his heels, the Red Sox decided to shut the 37-year-old DH down for 5-7 days and let him rest. It is now unlikely that Ortiz will be ready to play by Opening Day.

Ortiz tore his right Achilles tendon last July. However, at the moment, the inflammation is worse in his left Achilles.

Manager John Farrell:

It does reveal some inflammation in the bony area of the heel so he's dealing with that. That's where his discomfort is being felt. And as a result, we're going to shut him down for a few days here to let that quiet down completely before we start to initiate any kind of baseball activities after that. Again, it's separate from any kind of previous issues that he dealt with. It's in the bone/tendon juncture where he's feeling the inflammation and the MRI shows it in that specific area.

The regular season begins three weeks from tomorrow.