It is not just that David Ortiz is doing things that other 40-year-olds don’t do. In the initial weeks of the season, he’s doing things that no one else in baseball is doing.

Last Friday, Ortiz became the second lefthanded hitter to homer against a Dellin Betances curveball, and the first to drive a ball out to the opposite field. On Wednesday, he accomplished another first, pulverizing a 1-and-1 fastball from White Sox lefthander Carlos Rodon and clearing the fence in right for his sixth homer of the year – an accomplishment noteworthy beyond the fact that the two-run homer gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead en route to a 5-2 victory.

Prior to Ortiz’s homer, lefties had walked to the plate 197 times against Rodon. The combined line from those plate appearances was .187/.275/.216 with four extra-base hits — and no home runs allowed. Rodon had gone more plate appearances in his career without permitting a homer to a lefty than any other pitcher in baseball. He had dominated lefties like few other starters in the game.

For any lefthanded hitter, Rodon represents a tough matchup. For a 40-year-old? An absurdity.

After all, platoon splits typically become more pronounced as hitters age, the production dropoff becoming steeper against same-handed pitchers than against those of the opposite hand. It’s part of the reason aging players tend to find their way into platoon roles.

For a time last year, Ortiz seemed to be following that pattern. Through last June, he was hitting .120/.128/.157 with one walk and 19 strikeouts in 82 plate appearances against lefties. Manager John Farrell was sitting Ortiz against tough lefthanded starters — exactly the sort of profile that Rodon fits.

Yet Ortiz, as he often seems to do, made the necessary adjustment to produce. The designated hitter felt that his stance had gotten too closed against lefties, hindering his pitch recognition. By opening his stance slightly, he said last summer, he started seeing the ball again well — with eye-popping results.

Dating to last July 2, in 118 plate appearances against lefties, Ortiz is hitting .330/.390/.651 with nine homers. Those are the sort of numbers against lefties that elite righthanded power hitters post, and it is thanks in no small part to Ortiz’s understanding of what pitchers are trying to do to neutralize him.

“When you see what he goes through to understand what an opposing pitcher might look to attack him with or pitches he might pick out, against a guy like Rodon, who he hasn’t seen an awful lot, his retention is great,’’ Farrell told reporters.

“He understands what he’s seeing after at least one at-bat. He gets a pitch up in the strike zone and deposits it in the seats in right field.’’

His early success doesn’t mean Ortiz is slump-proof against lefties. It’s worth noting that he has struck out seven times with no walks against southpaws this year, perhaps a suggestion that he has become particularly aggressive when guessing at opponents’ offerings.

That said, he’s also guessing accurately with considerable frequency, in a way that permits Ortiz to do things that few if any other players in the game are doing.