BOSTON -- Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz likely will sit out the remainder of the season as he deals with wrist soreness similar to what he felt in 2008, when he partially tore the sheath surrounding the tendon in his left wrist and missed a month and a half of the season.

Ortiz, out of the lineup Thursday for the second straight night, first felt the injury Tuesday night on a swing in the sixth inning. He was checked out Wednesday, confirming that his wrist was inflamed.

"They got me in the machine [MRI]," Ortiz said after Thursday's 11-1 win over the Rays. "Nothing broken, just inflammation from bone bruise, tendon bruise."

Manager John Farrell said that while Ortiz is not necessarily being shut down for the team's final games, the Red Sox are leaning toward keeping him off the field through the weekend.

David Ortiz indicated the symptoms he's feeling in his wrist now are in line with those he felt prior to the popping in his wrist in 2008, when he went on the disabled list. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

"We're being cautious with this," Farrell said. "If he's available, he'll be in the lineup. That's pretty much day-to-day at this point."

Farrell said the injury is in the same general area as the 2008 tear -- the triangular fibrocartilage complex located on the side of the wrist below the pinkie finger. In speaking to Farrell, Ortiz indicated that the symptoms he is feeling are in line with those felt prior to the popping sensation that prompted his disabled list stint that year.

"Yeah I think what happened to me now happened to me in '08, but I never really put attention to it, then all of a sudden out of nowhere my tendon just snapped back then," Ortiz said. "Right now, I have the tendency to put my hand down every time I slide so I've been sore for the past couple of weeks but it wasn't really bothering me to swing the bat until the other night and that was when I started getting concerned about it."

Although Ortiz returned to action and put up modest numbers the rest of the way in 2008 (excluding a difficult postseason), many believed his wrist was still bothering him in '09, when he posted a measly .238 batting average in 150 games.

This season, at the age of 38, Ortiz has hit .263 with 35 home runs and 104 RBIs.

While there is not yet any long-term concern regarding the wrist injury, Farrell said the team will be cautious given its position in the standings.

"If he feels like he's good to go, I'm certainly not going to hold him out of the lineup," Farrell said. "David's trying to do what he can through treatment to be able to get to the lineup, but if it's something that is in that gray area, that's where we've got to be cautious with that."

Meanwhile, Mike Napoli and Brock Holt have both been deemed "unlikely" to return by Farrell. Napoli has missed the team's last six games battling nagging injuries to his back, toe and finger, while Holt has been out with a concussion since Sept. 6.

Holt took batting practice Tuesday for the first time since going down but still has several hurdles to jump before being cleared to return.

"He's going through daily workouts that are increasing, which is all part of us continuing to ramp him up to get him back on the field, but the field is probably going to be instructional league," Farrell said. "He still has to go back out to Pittsburgh and be cleared by Dr. [Micky] Collins. That's almost improbable before Sunday."

ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes contributed to this report.