For David Ortiz, Pete Alonso is the one who must fill the power vacuum in the Red Sox

The Hall of Famer noted that the Red Sox need a power bat in the middle of the lineup, in what will be their first full season without Rafael Devers.

David Ortiz knows what it means to be a power hitter Boston Red Sox. The immortal of Cooperstown, recognized for his historic hits with the red-legged team, analyzed some of the offensive needs that the team has for the 2026 season, including the lack of strength in the heart of the lineup since the departure of Rafael Devers via change.

During a brief participation in the ITM Podcast, along with Joey Copponi and Scott Neville, Ortiz He pointed out that, although the team’s priority must be to ensure the return of Alex Bregmanadding an extra power hitter is an obvious need, something also recently expressed by the club’s head of baseball operations, Craig Breslow.

Regarding his preference to fill that void, Ortiz explained that, in his opinion, Pete Alonso fits better what they are looking for Red Soxeven above other big power hitter available on the market, Kyle Schwarber.

“I think that with either of the two you would be satisfied, because we are talking about two monsters“, said Ortiz when referring to Alonso and Schwarber.

“However, if I have to choose one of the two, because I have Roman Anthony as a left-handed hitter, I would go for the right-handed hitter, Pete Alonso. The team is loaded with lefties, and with the new power lefty starters, you know they’re going to look for the lefty-on-lefty matchup. I think the team is good left-handed, so I think you need a right-handed power hitter who can take advantage of the ‘Green Monster’, it would be a plus”he added.

According to Ortizthe decision on who to pursue as a power hitter will depend on whether the team manages to secure the return of Bregmana scenario that would give more flexibility to build the lineup.

In the particular case of Schwarberits advantage is familiarity with the structure of the Red Soxafter playing 41 games with the team in 2021 after arriving from the Washington Nationals. In that brief stage he hit .291 with an OPS of .957, in addition to 7 home runs and 18 RBIs in 134 at-bats.

On your side, Alonso He has played only 10 games in Boston, where he has batted .250 with 3 home runs and 4 RBIs.

The Red Sox They need power if they plan to compete in 2026, so both Alonso as Schwarber They represent viable alternatives to fill that gap. David Ortiz He has already made it clear who his favorite candidate is, so it only remains to be seen if Boston decides to move for any of them.