David Ortiz spoke this afternoon in the clubhouse by his locker. He was sporting a black cast over his wrist and lower arm, and a hope that he would be back in the Red Sox lineup in little more than a month.

But that's not a guarantee. After two weeks in the cast, doctors will check on the wrist to determine whether there is still pain from the tendon injury that has put him on the disabled list. If there is no pain, Ortiz likely would begin to resume baseball activities. If there is pain, the cast goes back on, and it might mean season-ending surgery for the designated hitter.

"I think the doctors say 70 to 80 percent of the people that had this, normally when they get the cast, it normally goes back [to where it was]," Ortiz said. "If the pain goes away and I still have the clicking, I probably can play through it and maybe fix it after the season. Otherwise, if I have the pain, I [might need surgery]."

Manager Terry Francona reiterated what he said Monday night, that it is unlikely Ortiz will need surgery. He also said that in the four times he's talked to Ortiz, the slugger has had four different outlooks on his season.

But no matter the mood, the big day will come in two weeks, when the cast is removed and the doctors determined if there is pain or not.

"They're going to get it off in two weeks just to see how I feel," Ortiz said. "If I have no pain, then they're going to start getting me swinging and see how I feel. Cause the problem right now is the pain. Every time I move my hands I feel pain.

"Everybody has like a little bracelet I guess that holds on to all the tendons. So when you stretch it, the tendons normally come out of position. That's what happened to me right here. Because it's kind of loose, every time I move my hand, the tendon just pops. So with this [cast] it won't allow me to move my hands around, so it will probably give the tendon the opportunity to go back where it's supposed to be."