by FOXSports.com

A published report says struggling Boston slugger David Ortiz has acknowledged there's an issue with his vision at the plate.

"It's not anything crazy," Ortiz told The Boston Globe on Friday. "I've just got to get it checked out."

Manager Terry Francona said Ortiz has been experiencing "dry eyes" during his at-bats, and that the team would send him to an optometrist on Monday.

With Ortiz hitting .187, including a 6-for-49 spell since his only home run of the season May 20, Francona feared raising the possibility of a vision problem "would have legs" and immediately wanted to "put it to bed."

"He had dry eyes on this last trip and he was blinking a couple at-bats," Francona told the paper. "So he went to the trainers . . . If somebody says something to a trainer, rather than hand him some Visine, we've got great people around, might as well get what works best. And the fact that he's getting it done Monday should tell you right now . . . this wasn't a really big deal on my radar."

Ortiz said his eyes became an issue before the season even began.

"Just been blinking too much when I've been hitting," Ortiz said "That's about it. It's been like that since we got back to begin the year in spring training. I just never paid attention to it because, I don't know, it wasn't part of my attention."

General manager Theo Epstein said Ortiz passed an eye test during spring training.

Asked if the blinking was constant or just when he was in the batter's box, Ortiz responded, "Just when I try to focus on something. And I focus on hitting. When you've got that blinking thing going on, it just doesn't feel right."