It looks like A-Rod is (mostly) in the clear, and Big Papi is the media’s new target.

After two games when David Ortiz was still hitless, the media in Boston was ruthless in their criticisms of the Dominican star. I’m not sure if that market is worried that he is not the same since the allegations of steroid use came into the light, or whether they really feel that his production will never be the same. It almost seems like they want him to fail.

In all honesty, Papi looks like he’s hitting the ball quite well aside from his usual flailing whiffs against good lefty sliders. With the amount of strength that he has and the way he swings the bat, he’s going to strike out a lot. Aside from striking out, hitting into the shift in short right field reduces a lot of hot smashes going through for base hits. It’s been this way for his whole career.

To criticize a guy for not getting a hit in two games, and then not responding publicly after he drives in your teams first and only run in the 3-1 loss against New York Wednesday night, is a little ridiculous. Clearly the Boston fanbase feels a lot differently about Ortiz than they once did.

Ortiz had every reason to be upset before the game on Tuesday. I originally had thought that he would be more upset and the extremely unprofessional behavior of the umpires not granting the players time when they ask for it. SIDE NOTE. Yankees/Red Sox games too long for you? Too bad, they rack up more viewers and overall television ratings than any other match in the league.

He has moved out of the cleanup spot into the five-hole, which is a good move by Francona. I have to say though, if you aren’t comfortable with him hitting cleanup, what reasoning do you have for designating him to protect your cleanup hitter?

The big upcoming question will be whether the Red Sox pick up his humongous option in 2011. At this point in the season, I would have to say no, simply because he only plays the DH position.

I don’t think that Ortiz is ever going to be as dominant as he once was, but cut the guy a little slack. After a horrible start last year he ended up hitting 28 home-runs and 99 RBI’s. The power is still there, but criticizing a guy after two games for not getting a hit where he hit the ball hard into the shift several times is no way to keep a players confidence.