David Ortiz Will Return to Fox for MLB Postseason Coverage

Big Papi will make his return to FOX just four months after getting shot in the Dominican Republic

Nearly four months removed from a shooting that almost ended his life, former Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz is returning to FOX’s MLB broadcast team for the 2019 postseason, according to The Big Lead.

The ex-Boston slugger will rejoin Kevin Burkhardt, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez in the studio for pregame and postgame analysis through the conclusion of the World Series. Ortiz tweeted a photo of the quartet on Tuesday afternoon with the caption “soon.”

🔜 pic.twitter.com/SZquiYArv1

— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) October 1, 2019

This will be Ortiz's third postseason as a full-time studio personality after 20 seasons as a big leaguer with Boston and Minnesota. He first appeared on FOX during the 2014 World Series as a guest analyst.

Ortiz was shot at a bar on June 9 in the Dominican Republic, his home country. Surveillance video of the incident shows a man approaching the table where Ortiz was sitting with four other men and firing a gun at the future Hall of Famer. Ortiz, hit once in the back, spent much of the summer invarious hospitals both in the Dominican Republic and in Boston recovering from three separate surgeries stemming from the shooting. He had his gallbladder removed along with parts of his intestines and colon.

Ortiz returned to Fenway Park for the first time on September 9 to throw out the first pitch, his first public appearance in Boston since the shooting.