Ortiz still walking a 'fine' line

"I'll be fine, bro," Ortiz said. "That's it." He poked a pair of diamond earrings into his lobes and said no more.

Ortiz and the Red Sox contend 12 games and 47 at-bats is not a large enough sample for there to be any concern over Ortiz's dismal statistics. He is batting .170 and slugging .191. Of his eight hits, seven are singles and none are home runs. He has struck out 14 times and walked six.

"He's just having a tough time," manager Terry Francona said. "Sometimes you get in-between where the fastball's beating you and you're out in front of the breaking ball, and it's a miserable feeling. Then as bad as a guy feels, they end up feeling that good. And that's when we'll jump on his shoulders."

Hitting coach Dave Magadan diagnosed Ortiz's issue late last week. Ortiz has been cocking his hands into a hitting position too late, the same problem that has crept up on Ortiz when struggles surfaced in the past, Magadan said.

Late last week, Magadan showed Ortiz two pictures, one from last year during a hot streak and one from this year. In the first, Ortiz had his hands back, ready to swing, while the ball was halfway to the plate. In the second picture, Ortiz was in an identical position, but the pitch had nearly reached the plate.

Yesterday, Koji Uehara struck out Ortiz swinging twice, both at fastballs that did not reach 90 miles per hour. "When you're a little bit late . . . getting to the spot where you need to put a swing on the ball, 87 is like 97," Magadan said.

Magadan emphasized that readiness is Ortiz's main issue. Ortiz has not been hitting the ball to the opposite field and producing familiar Wall Ball doubles, but Magadan said opponents have been pitching him hard and inside. Magadan also said he has witnessed no effects from the wrist injury that plagued Ortiz late last season and in the playoffs.

While Magadan had identified the problem, he was not concerned with it. He and Ortiz worked on fixing it Saturday and Magadan is happy with the results.

"When you can change your season around in two games, it's not a start," Magadan said. "It takes some time. He felt good about the changes he made yesterday. For me, I think it's just a matter of time."

Other members of the Red Sox joined that chorus.

"Just relax," Dustin Pedroia said. "Everyone goes through stuff like that. You see him hit a ball, it's usually right at somebody. Everything imaginable that you don't want to happen, happens. He's going to be fine. If David goes 4 for 4 tomorrow, he's hitting .260."

It actually would be .235, but Pedroia's point remained: The calendar hasn't advanced far enough for any player to be concerned.

Ortiz has stressed to everyone that he'll reverse his season. On Friday, Jim Rice sat on a clubhouse couch that Ortiz was leaning on. Rice was reading game notes, and decided he would tease Ortiz.

"You're supposed to hit your weight, you know," Rice said, pointing at Ortiz's average.

Ortiz exchanged some light-hearted banter, walked away, grabbed something from his locker, and came back.

"I don't know if you know how to read," he said. "But read this."

Ortiz held up a T-shirt, the front facing Rice. It read, "It's not how you start."

Ortiz flipped the T-shirt around. The back read, "It's how you finish."

"When the leaves change, you're going to be there, baby," Rice said to Ortiz.