With David Ortiz not making the progress he had hoped with his right Achilles injury, the Red Sox sent the slugger out for a precautionary MRI exam on Saturday. They sent the results to a radiologist back in Boston for a reading.



Ortiz hasn't been ruled out for Opening Day, but it wouldn't be surprising if that becomes the case.

"He's undergone an MRI on both his heels, and that's where he's been feeling the discomfort," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "It hasn't been in that right Achilles specifically, it's been overall in both heels."

If nothing else, the club hoped that the MRI could give Ortiz some peace of mind.

"Just to rule everything out, he's undergone that imaging here today. I think the one thing that we still hold in all this is that, while the timing might not be what was maybe initially expected, the bigger picture is he's still making progress," Farrell said. "He's been able to run the bases -- as we know -- on the days that he has. He's been taking BP every single day. There's progress, yet maybe not as fast as he might have anticipated or hoped. Like I said, we're ruling everything out but at the same time we acknowledge that there's progress being made."

When would the Red Sox officially rule Ortiz out for Opening Day?