David Ortiz officially renamed “Little Papi.”

The Red Sox’s David Ortiz won’t go the whole year without a homerun. But still, Sox fans have got to be worried about “Big” Papi’s utter lack of power.

He’s hitting doubles and some of those will turn into homers. Still, my grandmother can hit doubles in Fenway Park. And while it’s encouraging that he’s driving the ball to the opposite field, his average still sits at a measly .235. So despite what appears to be a positive, he’s obviously still not seeing the ball that well or his average would be up despite the power dip.

And this begs the question: Is it possible that Ortiz is going to be a shadow of the player he once was without the protection of Manny? Some stats indicate that Ortiz will be just fine; that he’ll simply garner more intentional walks while still slugging consistently.

I am not completely sold on that.

The sample size is one-sixth of his data with Manny.

For that reason, American League pitchers are going to challenge Ortiz and make him prove that he can hit in a Manny-less lineup. So far he hasn’t.

He’s been swinging and missing way too often. He’s been chasing inside fastballs, a problem that dates way back to his Minnesota days. His inability to make contact with that pitch, or to even lay off it, was part of the reason he was unceremoniously ousted before even really getting a chance there. He’s already struckout 21 times this year, nearly one-third of his total last year and nearly one-fourth the total during his heydays with Manny. Did I mention it’s the first month?

And it’s not like Kevin Youkilis is a slouch batting behind him. Last year’s MVP candidate is currently batting .405 with 5 homeruns, 15 RBI, and 20 runs scored. I’m going straight after Ortiz with the Bearded One behind him.

Ortiz had a brutal April last year too, so maybe it’s just a matter of time before he breaks out. Still, I’m looking for the slow decline to continue.

On his way…

5-0 

Don’t lie to me, Albert.