Pedro Martinez still thinks David Ortiz will make a comeback
It’s unclear whether Pedro Martinez has any inside information, but the Hall of Fame pitcher provided some fodder for Red Sox fans who hope they haven’t see the last of the recently retired David Ortiz.
“Well, David says he’s retired, but I still believe David is probably gonna give it another try,” Martinez said in an interview Saturday with WEEI’s Trenni Kusnierek and John Tomase.
Martinez, who has worked for the Red Sox as a special assistant since 2013, said he couldn’t imagine Ortiz “wasting” 2017 immediately after the 41-year-old slugger’s impressive 2016 season.
“David is too smart,” he said. “I still believe David is going to feel the little itch of coming back to spring training, because, imagine, I’m one of his closest friends and I’m going to have to come to spring training. So he’s going to be left in the Dominican alone.”
Following recent speculation of a comeback, Ortiz confirmed his intentions to stay retired in Players Tribune piece, but admitted he was having a tough time convincing his teammates.
“Nobody believes me. Not even my teammates,” Ortiz wrote, later adding, “I wish I could. My mind wants to. But my body just can’t do it anymore.”
Martinez, however, remains skeptical
“I know that he needs some time off,” he told WEEI. “If stays at home with his wife, his kids, it’s going to get boring sooner or later.”
Martinez, who official retired in 2011, said Ortiz “always laughs” when he tells the slugger how difficult it is to watch former teammates leave when it’s baseball season again. But Martinez said he thinks his friend is underestimating how hard it is.
“I think the toughest thing is going to be when he finds himself with so much time and not having like a regiment to follow,” he said, adding that he won’t be convinced Ortiz is permanently retired until the end of the 2017 season.
“Until the year goes by, I won’t,” he said
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