Weekend wrap: Is Papi hurt?

Nothing feeds a rumor mill faster than sitting out a Yankees-Red Sox Sunday night ESPN game.

So is the fate of Boston's David Ortiz, who is hitting .070 with a .140 slugging percentage.

Big Papi had gone hitless in his previous 17 at-bats, prompting manager Terry Francona to give him a night off.

But is there something more?

Ortiz had offseason knee surgery and his batting stance is much more upright this year, leading to speculation that he's favoring the knee.

And there may be some truth to this.

But don't hit the panic button. It's not even tax day (which reminds me) ...

No, you probably won't see 50 HR, or maybe even 40 this year. But I say he repeats last year's subpar power numbers of 35 HR and 117 RBI, which makes Papi a solid buy low option right now.

Find your Ortiz owner and start talking up his night off. Against the Yanks. Talk about the knee surgery. The upright stance. 

Then see if you can get him for 70 cents on the dollar.

And if all else fails, you can speculate Papi may have got injured filming this:

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

• Twins SP Francisco Liriano lumbered through 4 2/3 innings in his first start 17 months after undergoing "Tommy John" surgery in 2006. His final statline: 6 hits, 5 BB, 4 ER and 4 Ks. I warned you not to activate him Sunday, but even if you did it wasn't the worst outing. Scouts, however, aren't seeing the same stuff and even Royals OF Mark Teahen (who went 0-for-3) noticed there wasn't the same zip on the ball. Time to lower those expectations and try to use name value for trade bait.

• Mariners SP Erik Bedard was scratched for the second time this year with inflammation in his left hip. Seattle says it's not worrying. I might be, if I were you. One or two more good start and you might wanna cash Bedard out.

• All you disgruntled Roy Oswalt owners out there, and I'm sure that's all of you, word is Oswalt's arm angle has been too low and his pitching have been coming in flat. I know, that sounds like hogwash. But since nothing's wrong with his velocity, it does make sense. Take comfort in Carlos Zambrano, who had similar problems last year and made huge strides once he figured it out.

• What's up with ARod? After going 0-for-8 on Saturday and Sunday, Rodriguez's average is now at .260 with just 2 HR and 7 RBI. Owners surely weren't expecting an April repeat, but after his 56 jacks last year, 2 HR through 13 games is a little disappointing. But don't do anything drastic. May, July and August have traditionally been better power months for ARod, even factoring in last year's sick April.

• A trio of top SS have been out, but fear not. Derek Jeter (quad) is due back tonight with Jose Reyes (hammy) and Jimmy Rollins (ankle) are all due back Tuesday night, although Rollins return seems less certain. Good news for owners, but considering they're all speed-hindering injuries, might need to lower SB expectations 15 percent.

• The Flying Hawaiian is grounded.  Phillies OF Shane Victorino strained his left calf, the same injury that cost him three weeks last year, then limited his final five weeks to pinch hit/part-time duty and his SB took a hit. If you can get any value at all, it's time to say aloha.

• A couple of hammy tweaks for owners in daily-move leagues to keep an eye on. Angels 2B Howie Kendrick and Tigers 1B Carlos Guillen both injured their hamstrings over the weekend, but neither are expected to hit the DL and Kendrick said he didn't hear a pop. And as someone who's had hammy issues, that news is significant.