FORT MYERS, Fla. -- David Ortiz, who made a surprising appearance in Red Sox camp three days before Friday’s scheduled first workout for the full squad, said his right Achilles tendon is not yet 100 percent but that he was pain free while doing agility drills in the Dominican Republic.
Ortiz said he was confident that he would be playing by the start of the regular season.
“Tomorrow we’re going to continue the drills,’’ said Ortiz, who took batting practice Tuesday. “The good thing is, I was hitting. It didn’t bother me at all hitting. Running, doing agility drills, at the beginning I was a little concerned. Later on, I was going after it pretty normal. I didn’t have any setbacks or anything. I was surprised myself.
“Right now, I’m just doing what the trainers tell me to do. I’ve been on pace. Pretty much everything they tell me is happening sooner than they expect, which is a good thing. Just moving forward. Don’t rush.’’
Ortiz initially was injured on July 16 as he was heading into second base ahead of Adrian Gonzalez’s home run. He returned five weeks later, going 2 for 4 with a double on Aug. 24, but then shut it down for the rest of the season.
“The trainers told me I could have snapped it on the double,’’ he said.
“I’m not concerned about it. We did a whole bunch of stuff with my Achilles last year, went back and took an MRI, my Achilles looked pretty normal. Before that, there was a tiny tear there.
“I was worried about my Achilles snapping, but that’s not the case anymore, not after I did that PRP (platelet-rich plasma injection, which he had in August) and a whole bunch of different things. I’m not worried about my Achilles anymore, to be honest with you.’’
We’ll have more from Ortiz later.