ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz will go to Boston this week to have his sore right shoulder checked by doctors.

Ortiz, the Most Valuable Player of the AL championship series against the New York Yankees, injured his shoulder Aug. 29 sliding head-first into home plate against the Detroit Tigers.

He missed a game that week but finished the year OK, playing in 150 games and 14 more in the playoffs.

Ortiz also went on a postseason tour in Japan.

“He played through it on the Japan trip,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said Sunday at the winter meetings.

“Rest will probably take care of it, but we want to make sure.”

Ortiz finished fourth in voting for the AL MVP after hitting .301 with 41 homers and 139 RBIs in the regular season. He batted .400 with five homers and 19 RBIs in the playoffs – hitting three walkoff hits in the postseason, two of them homers.

Ortiz was named the ALCS MVP after beating the Yankees twice in the same calendar day while Boston rallied from a 3-0 deficit by winning the final four games. He picked up another honor this weekend when he was named the outstanding designated hitter of the year for the second consecutive season.

Ortiz played 115 games as a DH, batting .309 with 33 homers and 109 RBIs to get 73 of the 84 first-place votes. Cleveland’s Travis Hafner was second after batting .319 with 28 homers and 106 RBIs, and Oakland’s Erubiel Durazo was third.

Epstein worked quietly on Sunday, one day after completing a deal to sign free agent David Wells. Boston was closing in on re-signing pitcher Pedro Martinez and catcher Jason Varitek, but those deals weren’t expected to be completed before the meetings end on Monday.

AP-ES-12-12-04 2100EST