Red Sox likely to shut down Ortiz for final 4 games

Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz has likely taken his final swing of the 2015 season.

With four games remaining and the team already eliminated from the postseason, interim manager Torey Lovullo hinted that Ortiz might be unofficially shut down.

"Some general soreness, the body is tired," Lovullo told reporters Thursday. "He's had a really, really good season. And I don't want to put him in a situation where he's going to run up against an injury, out of fairness to him."

The 39-year-old Ortiz has appeared in 144 games in his 19th season, and has been pulled for a pinch runner in each of the last two.

Individually, Ortiz has already accomplished any personal milestone he had set out this season. The nine-time All-Star became the 27th player in MLB history to hit 500 career home runs, and maxed out his $16-million vesting option last week by reaching 600 plate appearances.

"I've been saying all along, he's played through days off, he played through a lot of days off in that little run that he was on," Lovullo said. "Chasing 500 home runs was bigger than any day off for me and I just wanted to make sure the medical team would sign off on it, David wanted to play, and just kept playing him through those days. So he deserves this time down."

Ortiz is signed through the 2016 season, and the Red Sox hold a $10-million team option for the 2017 season.