Ortiz eyeing possible return in Cleveland

David Ortiz said prior to the Red Sox' game with the Rangers Tuesday that the injection he received Monday had helped the inflammation in his injured right Achilles tendon and there was some hope that the designated hitter might be able to play Sunday in Cleveland.

"Today was the first time I ran a little faster than what I've been doing," said Ortiz, who has been on the disabled list since July 17. "I still have that little sensation there but it's improving, getting better. Hopefully tomorrow, after the workout today, hopefully it doesn't feel worse than it does today so that will mean I'm improving, and that's a good sign."

Ortiz did some running in the outfield before taking a round of batting practice Tuesday, coming away with some newfound optimism heading toward a possible return over the weekend. He also ruled out going on a rehab assignment. 

"It's not like I have that much time for it," said Ortiz of a possibility of getting some at-bats in the minor leagues prior to his return. "I'm trying to come in and with my case I know what it takes to go back and forth. The positive side for the whole thing is that I'm not starting the season on the DL. I was playing and I have an idea of what I was doing before. I haven't been just sitting down. I've been doing my workout and hitting once in a while. I'm going to continue hitting until I start playing, so that's good because I can at least make up my own mind when it comes to the hitting part. Trust me, what makes me worry is not the hitting. It's being able to play without worrying about anything."

Despite the step in a positive direction, Ortiz admitted to having to fight frustration. The Red Sox are 9-11 since the DH went on the disabled list, with the offense carrying the 17th-best OPS (.725) in the majors over that span.

"Nothing I can do about it. It's a healing process. Everybody heals up differently," he said. "This is an injury that takes some time. Of course I want to play and I expected to be ready to go in two weeks. But most of the people I talked to, some people gave me the head's up right after I got injured and said, 'Hey, it takes some time to heal up.' And it seems like it. But the way I feel today it seems like it's healing fast compared to what people tell you about it.

Ortiz later added, "Trust me, I'm dying. I want to be playing. It's not fun, watching. Especially knowing this ballclub needs me the most. Every time we win a game it makes me feel better. It makes me feel more comfortable and takes some of the pressure off myself. Those games you see we lose one or two runs, it gets in your head a little bit because you think you could have done something. It's an ugly truth and I have to deal with it."