Buster Olney

ESPN MLB analyst Buster Olney joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday afternoon for his weekly discussion about the latest happenings in the Red Sox clubhouse, which included his thoughts on the team potentially shopping Kevin Youkilis.

Youkilis, who will begin his rehab stint Wednesday night for Triple-A Pawtucket, was placed on the disabled list early this month with a back strain. In his absence, Will Middlebrooks has stepped in and has played exceptionally well, hitting .300 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Olney said that the Sox will look at possible trade situations for Youkilis as he makes his return.

“I’ve talked with a number of executives at other teams this week, because this looks like it’s headed down that path,” Olney said. “Unless there’s an injury to a David Ortiz or to an Adrian Gonzalez, eventually you’re going to have a situation when the Red Sox, who are presumably going to want to find a way to keep Middlebrooks in the big leagues, they’re going to have to figure out what to do with Youkilis.”

Olney said that other general managers have told him that Youkilis is going to have to put about three productive and healthy weeks together in order for them to gauge his trade value.

“They think then, that’s when you can get a little something in return,” Olney said. “Not great, they’re not going to get a Grade A prospect, they’re probably not even going to get a Grade A-minus prospect because of the amount of money owed to him.

“But there’s clearly a lot of places where he could land. The Dodgers, I think are in an evaluation period now with their first baseman James Loney, because he’s gotten off to a terrible start. … I think the Chicago White Sox potentially are a fit for Youkilis as a third baseman, and potentially in his hometown of Cincinnati would be a great fit for him because they need a right-handed hitter who can play third base especially now that Scott Rolen’s career might be over.”

Olney also offered his thoughts on Josh Beckett, who has faced much criticism over the last week for going golfing two days before he missed a scheduled start due to injury. Beckett responded well from a poor pitching performance last week with a seven-inning, scoreless gem Tuesday afternoon.

“I thought [Beckett] said it perfectly the day after that start last week when he said he needs to be part of the solution,” Olney said. “He needs to be part of it because they need a pitcher like him, but he also needs to be part of it because the bottom line is, given his performances since the beginning of last September, he didn’t really have that much trade value anyway … and I know from talking with evaluators with other teams, they do have questions about how healthy he is.

“I’m sure some of those questions were at least partially answered by what they saw yesterday, because he was terrific. Everyone’s going to point out, and rightly so, that he was facing the Mariners, it wasn’t like he was facing the Texas Rangers, but he threw the ball great, and what a great sign for he and the Red Sox.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

On the health of Clay Buchholz: “I haven’t heard from evaluators on that. I think they still have questions about his ability to keep the ball down in the strike zone, as we’ve talked about in the past, and whether or not he can do that consistently, and whether they’re going to see more from his two-seam fastball.”

On Adrian Gonzalez playing right field during interleague games: “It’s not ideal, but I’m sure one of the first things that Bobby [Valentine] would say to Gonzalez, and something that he’s dealt with in the past because of his shoulder issues, is to stay off the ground. Don’t be diving around all over the place. You saw last week Jayson Werth get knocked out pretty much for the rest of the year by breaking his wrist. I really don’t think it’s that big of an issue, and I think from a manager’s perspective, and actually as we prepare for Sunday Night Baseball, Terry Francona has told us stories about this, where they’ve talked about the situation with Ortiz. Terry’s position was, ‘Look, I have to play the guy. I can’t have that guy out of the lineup not only because he’s a good hitter, but because you can’t just have a situation where he basically gets nine days of vacation in the middle of the year, or a period of time when he’s not even on the field.’ ”

John Smoltz

MLB Network analyst John Smoltz weighed in on the Josh Beckett golf controversy during a Wednesday appearance on the Mut & Merloni show. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Smoltz acknowledged that Beckett “could have handled it a little bit better,” but he said Beckett’s golf excursion is being overblown in Red Sox Nation.

“We make way too much of things that have absolutely nothing to do with execution on the field,” Smoltz said, adding: “A golf swing and throwing a baseball is not even remotely close. I will give you this: A back or a lat can come into play, but unless you’re a violent golfer or a terrible golfer, it really has nothing to do with Josh’s inability to throw strikes or where he wants to. He proved it the next start. He made the changes.”

Smoltz, who pitched 21 major league seasons, mostly with the Braves, spent a chunk of the 2009 season with the Red Sox. He said he knows first-hand from that experience that the Sox starters are putting in the effort.

“To be honest with you, I talked to [Beckett] and [Jon] Lester about toning it down a little bit. Those guys worked like animals,” he said. “I’d never seen guys work as hard as they did in between starts. I played a long time, and I was always priding myself on the way that I worked, but those guys put me to shame.

“I know they were younger, and certainly that trend can not continue. But I think from what goes on in a clubhouse and what goes on on a field, sometimes we translate it into, ‘What could it be? Why is his head not right? Why is it this?’ There’s a lot of things that I think each player, if they had a chance to do it all over again, might answer questions differently or not have a certain attitude of disdain. I think taking better ownership and taking more direct hits sometimes is not fun, but you’ve just got to deal with it.

“From a standpoint of these guys and going to spring training, look, I went 21 years with the Atlanta Braves. I never did half of the stuff I did when I was with the Boston Red Sox in spring training, and the way they went after it. I mean, it was incredibly tough.”

Smoltz said he has confidence the Red Sox will turn things around, but he cautions that it will take patience.

“Time is not on Boston’s side, for obvious reasons,” he said. “People want that team to rebound from last year and be the team everyone thinks they’re capable of being, and I think they will. But time, it’s just not something that people are very patient with. And you’re seeing this very streaky team. And now the rotation is coming around. It’s going to be OK. I just know people don’t feel that way given the fact that it happened in September and it’s really carried over to this year.”

Jose Iglesias had been hitting like crazy since the last day of April, but the 22-year-old shortstop had been spraying line drives around the park. Even during a stretch of 11 games that included seven multi-hit contests, he had totaled just two extra-base hits.

And so, Tuesday represented a notable milestone for Iglesias. The shortstop cleared the left-field fence for his first homer of the year, lining a fastball off of Rays prospect (and UMass alum) Matt Torra just over the left field wall in Durham. It was part of a 3-for-5 night in which Iglesias matched a season high for hits while delivering just his second career homer, the continuation of a stretch in which Iglesias has gotten the best results of his career.

Since April 30, when Iglesias collected a pair of hits to nudge his average up to .200 for the season’s first month, the shortstop has been on a tear. In 12 games, he’s hitting .388 (fifth in the International League in that stretch) with a .423 OBP (10th in the league), .510 slugging mark and .933 OPS (11th). For the first time, he’s showing in a sustained stretch — dating to even before the start of the hot streak — that he has adjusted to the level of competition in an advanced league that features pitchers with legitimate breaking balls and, in many cases, big league experience.

For the season, Iglesias now has a line of .262/.322/.315/.637. It’s not a spectacular performance, but it nearly replicates the league average (.250/.326/.376/.702) at a level that features much older competition. And the more recent performance — which is also noteworthy for the fact that Iglesias has struck out just four times while walking three times over this stretch of 52 plate appearances — lends credence to the notion that the shortstop can be more than a defensive hitter who is a zero in the lineup.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 8-2 WIN AT DURHAM (RAYS)

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– Like Iglesias, Che-Hsuan Lin started to get hot at the end of an otherwise tough April and has been hitting ever since. He went 2-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday, and in his last 14 games, he’s hitting .372 (seventh in the International League since April 30) with a .491 OBP (third), .488 slugging mark and .979 OPS (10th). The 23-year-old now has a better-than-league-average line of .264/.359/.382/.741, and given his excellent defense in center field, the performance is intriguing.

Lin has struggled with being too passive at times throughout his minor league career, something that has driven high walks totals and solid OBPs despite low batting averages. But hitting coordinator Victor Rodriguez and PawSox hitting coach Gerald Perry have been working with the native of Taiwan to be ready to hone that passiveness into selectivity with a readiness to take some rips at pitches that he can handle, with positive results to date this year.

“He’s really worked on his approach at the plate,” said farm director Ben Crockett. “He’s someone who does such a good job of taking pitches and working the count that sometimes it can work against him. He’s really trying to make the adjustment of being ready to attack, and I think it’s paid off a little bit in the numbers and will continue to be a focus for him.”

– Mark Melancon delivered another perfect inning in which he struck out a batter and got two groundball outs. He’s now 12 scoreless appearances into his time in Pawtucket, having struck out 20 and walked none.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 8-5 WIN AT READING (PHILLIES)

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– Anthony Ranaudo made his long-anticipated Double-A debut after opening the year in extended spring training while working his way back from a minor groin injury that he suffered in late-March. The right-hander struggled with his command at times in a four-inning effort that saw him allow four runs on four hits (including two homers) while walking three and striking out two.

His fastball ran from 89-94 mph, averaging about 92 (though the stadium gun had him at 96 mph on one occasion). While it was far from a dominant debut, it would probably be a mistake to read too much into the right-hander’s first outing of the year, which functioned (somewhat literally) as an opportunity for the 22-year-old to get his legs under him.

The right-hander told the Portland Press-Herald that he struggled to manage “a big wave of emotion” during a first inning in which he required 25 pitches.

–Bryce Brentz kept mashing, going 2-for-5 to improve his line to .298/.338/.443/.781 this year. Brentz is now 10-for-14 in his last three games, and over the past nearly three weeks, he leads all of Double-A with a .460 average in his last 13 games. In that span, he also ranks among the top five among all Double-A hitters in OBP (.491), slugging percentage (.700) and OPS (1.191).

– Kolbrin Vitek went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, giving him an extra-base hit in consecutive games.

HIGH-A SALEM RED SOX: 8-6 WIN, 4-1 LOSS AT CAROLINA (INDIANS)

(GAME 1 BOX,GAME 2 BOX)

– Sean Coyle had an unusual eight-game hitting streak come to a halt in the second game of the double header. In the first contest, he went 1-for-3 with his fifth homer of the year. That gave Coyle his eighth straight game of precisely one hit, the result being a hitting streak in which he had just a .250 average but with a .385 OBP (thanks to seven walks) and a .594 slugging mark, as five of his eight hits were of the extra-base variety (two doubles, three homers).

Coyle is one of the most challenging players in the Red Sox system for whom comparisons can be identified. He’s among the shortest players in the system (listed at 5-foot-8), but he doesn’t get cheated often on his swing, as evidenced both by the fact that he strikes out roughly one of every four trips to the plate and that he has one extra-base hit for every 10 plate appearances in his pro career.

Though he is the second-youngest position player on the team (older only than Xander Bogaerts), Coyle leads the team with five homers. While playing against older competition, the 2010 third-round pick (who was signed to a $1.3 million bonus more typically seen by first-rounders) demonstrates above average power, approach and defensive ability for his position. He projects as a big leaguer, but with few parallels given his size and skill set, it is difficult to say exactly what kind of big leaguer.

– Michael Almanzar went 3-for-7 with a double while driving in three runs over the double header. With the performance, he is hitting .290 with a .327 OBP, .439 slugging mark and .767 OPS. All of those marks are the highest of his professional career by a fairly significant margin (save for Almanzar’s dominant debut in the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League in 2008, when he was 17). While he is still not walking (5 in 113 plate appearances), he has cut down significantly on his strikeouts while adding power, suggesting better management of his plate appearances and an improved understanding of the pitches he can drive. He is punching out once every 5.9 plate appearances this year after having whiffed once every 4.5 plate appearances prior to 2012. Meanwhile, he has one extra-base hit per 9.4 plate appearances, up from a career rate of one per every 16.5 plate appearances.

– Though right-hander Brandon Workman allowed three runs on five hits before getting pulled after throwing 78 pitches in just 3 2/3 innings, he continued to show swing-and-miss stuff, punching out six and walking two. He now has 28 strikeouts (against seven walks) in 24 2/3 innings, though it is worth noting that he’s also permitted four homers to date this year en route to a 2-1 record and 3.65 ERA.

– Xander Bogaerts was lifted in the fifth inning of Game 1 of the double header, two innings after he was hit by a pitch on the back of the leg. He did not play the second game, but he did coach first base.

SINGLE-A GREENVILLE DRIVE: 8-2 WIN VS. ASHEVILLE (ROCKIES)

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– Miguel Pena, who threw six perfect innings in his previous outing, allowed just one run on two hits in six frames on Tuesday. The left-hander struck out a season-high eight and walked three. In seven games this year, he’s now 3-2 with a 1.69 ERA, 37 strikeouts and six walks in 37 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .192 against him.

– Garin Cecchini hit his first homer of the year in his 130th at-bat, but his first longball of the year was merely the punctuation mark on a 3-for-5 game in which the 21-year-old also had two steals. Through 33 games this year, Cecchini’s season harbors a number of similarities to the 32 contests he played in 2011 in Lowell before his season ended with a non-displaced wrist fracture when he was hit by a pitch.

In Lowell, Cecchini hit .298/.398/.500/.898 with three homers, 12 doubles, a triple, 12 steals and two caught stealings in 32 games. This year, in 33 games in Greenville, he’s hitting .298/.366/.427/.793 with one homer, 12 doubles, a triple, 14 steals and two caught stealings. In both seasons, he overcame slow starts to perform as one of the better players in the league for a stretch. This year, since April 13, he ranks seventh in the South Atlantic League with a .346 average while also featuring a .409 OBP, .490 slugging mark and .899 OPS over his last 26 games.

– Keury De La Cruz, after going 0-for-9 in his previous two games, went 2-for-5 and launched his seventh homer of the year, improving his season line to .326/.372/.572/.944. His seventh homer of the year (in 148 plate appearances) gave him a new single-season career-high, surpassing his previous mark of six homer in 219 plate appearances in the Gulf Coast League in 2010.

LINKS

– Outfielder Scott Podsednik told Pawtucket play-by-play man Steve Hyder that he wants to play “until they rip the jersey off my back.”

– Mike Antonellis, play-by-play announcer of the Sea Dogs, talked to outfielder Bryce Brentz about both his extraordinary hot streak and teammate Anthony Ranaudo. To listen to the interview, click here.

– Salem broadcaster Evan Lepler offered an interesting breakdown of some of Jackie Bradley Jr.’s early-season numbers, with particularly insightful analysis of the dazzling outfielder’s seemingly high total of four errors.

Clay Buchholz

Clay Buchholz may be the Red Sox starter with the highest ERA, but he is also the one with the most wins, a number bolstered by a 7-5 victory over Cleveland in his last start. The righty tossed 6 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs and three walks.

Buchholz (4-1) will attempt to help the Red Sox match their longest win streak of the season at six when he takes the mound Wednesday night against the Rays.

The Texas native has recorded an ERA of 8.31 through seven starts. Despite this, Buchholz has a team-high four wins. The 27-year-old last faced Tampa Bay and Hellickson on April 14. Buchholz pitched seven innings and overcame five earned runs, three walks and a home run to earn the victory as the Sox won 13-5. He is 5-2 all-time against the Rays with an ERA of 2.38.

Luke Scott is the Ray who has faced Buchholz the most, accumulating 25 plate appearances and recording five RBIs, three walks and four strikeouts. Jose Molina has the Rays’ highest batting average against Buchholz, batting .500 in 10 appearances.

Jeremy Hellickson will serve as Buchholz’s counterpart Wednesday night. Although he is undefeated, Hellickson (3-0, 2.95) has not recorded a decision since an April 25 win over the Angels. He lasted 6 2/3 innings in his last outing against Baltimore and surrendered three earned runs. The Iowa native turned in the shortest outing of his career in the start before his appearance against Baltimore, tossing 102 pitches through 3 2/3 innings against Oakland. The Rays have lost Hellickson’s last two starts.

Hellickson did not fare well the last time he took the mound against the Red Sox, pitching five innings and allowing five earned runs and three home runs. Hellickson did not factor in the decision, but the Rays lost.

He has faced Boston five times, recording an ERA of 4.21 and two wins. While seven current Red Sox batters have faced Hellickson, Adrian Gonzalez has been Boston’s biggest threat against the righty. Gonzalez has faced Hellickson 15 times, pressing the pitcher for four RBIs and four walks as well as a home run. David Ortiz has Boston’s highest batting average against Hellickson, batting .462 in 15 plate appearances.

Red Sox vs. Hellickson (RHP)

Adrian Gonzalez (15 plate appearances): .182 BA/.400 OBP/.636 SLG, 1 triple, 1 home run, 4 RBIs, 4 walks

David Ortiz (15): .462/.533/.846, 1 triple, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 2 walks

Dustin Pedroia (15): .231/.333/.615, 1 triple, 1 HR, 1 RBIs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Jarrod Saltalamaccia (10): .250/.400/.750, 1 double, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

Mike Aviles (3) .333/.333/.333

Cody Ross (3): .000/.000/.000

Ryan Sweeney (2): 1.000/1.000/2.000, 1 double, 1 walk

Rays vs. Buchholz (RHP)

Luke Scott (25 plate appearances): .227 BA/.320  OBP/.591 SLG, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBIs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

Carlos Pena (21): .158/.238/.368, 1 double, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

Ben Zobrist (21) .176/.333/.176, 1 RBI, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

B.J. Upton (14): .455/.571/.818, 1 double, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

Matthew Joyce (10): .286/.400/.286, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Jose Molina (10): .500/.500/.625, 1 double, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Sean Rodriguez (5): .250/.250/.250, 2 strikeouts

Will Rhymes (4): .000/.250/.000, 1 walk

Jeff Keppinger (3): .000/.000/.000

Chris Gimenez has a walk in one plate appearance.

The idea that Ortiz might go deep is hardly an unexpected event. He has 1,809 hits in a career that has seen him spend parts of 16 seasons in the majors. Of those, 386 have been homers.

But on Tuesday, in a 5-0 victory over the Mariners, Ortiz did something with little precedent in his career. For just the sixth time in his career and the first time since 2010, he dropped a perfect bunt single down the third base line.

The decision to do so came in the bottom of the fifth inning, after the Mariners replaced starter Blake Beavan with left-hander Charlie Furbush. Furbush works from an angle that gives left-handers little sense of comfort; last year, Ortiz was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts and two groundballs against him.

And so, Ortiz decided to take advantage of the fact that the Mariners infield was employing a shift against him, with the third baseman swung around to occupy what was roughly the shortstop position in deference to the fact that three infielders were crowded on the right side of the diamond.

“You’ve got to play the game the way it’s supposed to be. I never see the ball coming out of that guy anyway,” said Ortiz. “I’ve got to make chicken soup out of chicken you-know-what.”

The decision was made unilaterally.

“It’s me hitting,” said Ortiz. “Nobody else. I do whatever I want to do.”

In this case, he also executed precisely what he wanted to do. He dropped a textbook bunt down the third base line. With no Mariners infielder within a zip code of the ball, Ortiz easily legged out the infield hit.

It was the first time that Ortiz had bunted for a single since Oct. 3, 2010, when he did so against the Yankees on the final day of the season. Prior to that, he had four career bunt hits, all of which came in 2005 and 2006, when teams were just beginning to employ the shift against him (much to the designated hitter’s displeasure).

The strategy thrilled Ortiz’s teammates, who were elated at the sight of the man with one of the most ferocious swings in big league history executing a form of small ball so well. They were further enthused when Ortiz hustled safely into second on a fielder’s choice when the throw pulled the shortstop wide of the bag, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Will Middlebrooks single.

Again, the sight of Ortiz trotting around the bases has become commonplace in the slugger’s decade in Boston. The image of him flying around the bases and manufacturing runs is somewhat novel, a reflection of the fact that he used the offseason to slim down and reshape himself.

“You know he lost all that weight and he’s got some speed now, so he’s feeling good right now,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. “That’s how we like it.”

The approach could reap ancillary benefits if Ortiz continues to employ it successfully. If he continues to use the bunt as a countermeasure against the shift, then teams will have to start respecting his ability to bunt for a single. In that scenario, the DH could force teams to realign, thus opening up the field for when he swings away.

“He said, ‘That’s why we practice it in spring training, right?’ It is,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “I hope he gets 10 of those this year. It spreads out the defense, then he’ll get another 10 hits through the right side of the infield.”

Of course, Ortiz has required little help in getting his hits this year. After going 2-for-3 with a homer (yawn) and a walk on Tuesday, he’s now hitting .353 with a .417 OBP, .633 slugging percentage and 1.050 OPS, all marks that rank among the top three in the American League.

With that sort of performance, there will be no rush to achieve a seventh career bunt single.

Beckett tossed seven shutout innings in which he allowed just four hits (all singles), walked two and struck out nine, overmatching the Mariners in a 5-0 Red Sox victory that concluded a two-game series sweep at Fenway. The strikeout total was the highest by a Sox starter this year. That total reflected an impressive arsenal of swing-and-miss offerings — a 91-94 mph fastball, a terrific changeup to keep the left-handed-heavy Mariners lineup honest, a curveball and a cutter.

While Beckett’s 4.97 ERA suggests struggles this year, the reality is that he has five quality starts and two complete clunkers. But for the most part, he’s given the Sox the type of performances that they need in order to contend, with no effort more emphatic than Tuesday’s.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

– Beckett continued a dominant turn of the rotation by Red Sox starters. Over the team’s five-game winning streak, the starters went 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA. Each went at least six innings, with Beckett going seven frames and Jon Lester turning in a complete game.

– David Ortiz found both conventional and unconventional ways to beat the shift. The designated hitter demolished a 93 mph fastball from Blake Beaven, sending it into the Red Sox bullpen in the bottom of the third inning for his eighth homer, giving the Sox a 1-0 lead. Then, leading off the bottom of the fifth, Ortiz dropped a textbook bunt down the third base line for a single.

The two-hit day was Ortiz’s first in eight games. In the previous seven contests, he was 4-for-28 with two walks. After going 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk, Ortiz is hitting .353 with a 1.050 OPS this season.

– Rich Hill delivered a 1-2-3 eighth inning, retiring all three left-handed hitters he faced. On the year, lefties are now 1-for-14 (.071) against him.

– Mike Aviles had a pair of doubles, going 2-for-4 while driving in two runs. Moreover, he continued to play spectacular defense.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

– Daniel Nava verged on mortal, going “just” 1-for-3 while striking out. He reached base twice, as he was also hit by a pitch. In the process, Nava saw his OBP fall from .750 to .708.

– Adrian Gonzalez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Mike Aviles has been one of the best defensive shortstops in the majors this year. (AP)

All spring, the clamor for Jose Iglesias was driven by a chief force, namely, the idea that his spectacular defense would outweigh any offensive deficiencies he might have. That assessment was a direct reflection upon the sense that Mike Aviles was not an adequate defender at the position. He was expected to be a downgrade from Marco Scutaro, let alone a Gold Glove-caliber defender in Iglesias.

With 35 games now in the books, something unexpected has happened. Foremost, Aviles has been among the best defensive shortstops in the majors.

The small sample disclaimer is necessary. Typically, defense is best evaluated — at least from a statistical standpoint — over multiple seasons. A couple of months thus can be deceiving. Nonetheless, the initial returns on what Aviles has done at the position are eye-opening.

The John Dewan Plus/Minus evaluation system (which examines every ball hit into a player’s defensive zone and compares the number of plays made by a single player to the average number of plays made on such balls) suggests that Aviles has made 13 more plays than the average shortstop on the balls hit in his direction this season. He’s made five more plays than the average shortstop on balls hit to his right, three more than average to his left (where his positioning, range and strong arm has allowed him to make a number of plays behind the second base bag) and four more than average on pop-ups. In Dewan’s system, that defensive wizardry has translated to 10 runs saved, the second highest total among all big league shortstops. Fangraphs.com’s UZR statistic pegs Aviles as the fourth best shortstop in the majors, 2.5 runs better than the average shortstop.

With Aviles performing as an above-average defender on the left side and reigning Gold Glovers Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez on the right side, infield defense has been a strength of the Red Sox in the early going.

“I think we’re playing pretty good defense, especially on the infield,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “[Aviles has been] huge. I don’t want to jinx him, but he’s made all the progressions. He’s learning to move with hitters and position himself properly. He always knows the speed of the runner. He’s been huge. The stability of him has been huge for our defense.”

That said, while the infield defense has been solid, the Sox’ defensive efficiency rating (meaning the number of balls in play turned into outs) is 23rd in the majors. That, however, reflects primarily on a makeshift outfield that is without Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford.

OTHER NOTES

– The Red Sox had to hold their collective breath prior to the game when left-hander Felix Doubront was hit on the right side of his head by a ball hit off a fungo bat. But the pitcher, after momentarily falling to the turf and being visited by a team trainer, walked off the field under his own power and declared himself fine.

“Whenever anybody comes off the field, you hold your breath, but he tested fine,” said Valentine. “He feels good, he knows where he is, he knows where he’s going. Thank goodness it just hit his ear. I think he’s going to be just fine.”

– Kevin Youkilis is ready to travel to Durham, NC, to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday. He is scheduled to take three at-bats as a designated hitter on Wednesday, and then progress back to playing in the field. There is not a targeted date for his return.

– Despite the lat stiffness that hindered him about two weeks ago, Josh Beckett has been taking batting practice with the rest of the Red Sox pitchers in preparation for interleague play. The Sox will be in Philadelphia starting on Friday.

– Prospect Anthony Ranaudo is scheduled to make his first start of the season (weather permitting) on Tuesday for Double-A Portland.

– The Red Sox and Cubs completed the trade that sent Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox in exchange for right-hander Michael Bowden and a player to be named. The Sox parted with Hunter Cervenka, a 22-year-old left-hander in Single-A Greenville. Cervenka had huge strikeout numbers this year in Greenville (24 in 15 2/3 innings) while also walking 12. That performance has been true to a minor league career in which he’s walked almost as many (7.6 per nine innings) as he’s struck out (8.2 per nine), but as this year’s performance underscores, he is an intriguing arm if he can ever hone his command. The Sox drafted Cervenka in the 27th round of the 2008 draft and signed him for $350,000.

Daniel Nava is back in the majors after a roller coaster 2011 (WEEI.com/John Vu)

Daniel Nava‘s arrival in the big leagues was one of a great and improbable player development story, a player who was undersized throughout high school and had all but given up on playing baseball at the college level — let alone professionally — before a late growth spurt led him to a batting title in the West Coast Conference, an independent league tenure and, eventually entry into the Red Sox system. At 27, he hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the majors on June 12, 2010, and while he endured ups and downs that year, he played in 60 games and hit .242 with a .351 OBP and .711 OPS as a rookie.

But just as quickly as he rose from obscurity, he returned to it in 2011. On May 20, he was hitting .189 with a .574 OPS in 36 games, and the Sox designated the switch-hitter for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Drew Sutton. Any team in baseball could have had him, but instead, Nava sailed through outright waivers and remained with the Sox in Triple-A.

He could have lamented his fate, dwelled on the reality that his trip to the majors in 2010 might be his only shot. Instead, he used that moment as an opportunity to reset and renew his career.

“I struggled a lot for a while last year. It allowed me to find myself again as a hitter,” said Nava. “I wasn’t myself. I was trying to do a lot of things that put me in a state where I was pressing. … Unfortunately, that’s what happened, but fortunately, I learned from it. Basically, I felt like when I was hitting .199, you can’t do too much worse. I had nothing to lose. I just went back to me. And I’m glad I have another shot.

“I had nothing else to lose at that point,” Nava said. “I was designated, taken off the 40-man, all that stuff. Who’s going to pick up someone who couldn’t hit water if he fell out a boat, so to speak? It allowed freedom. Let’s just go back to me, not worry about anything and let that take over.”

The challenge he faced, in many respects, was more psychological than physical.

“I think I was putting a lot of emphasis on my numbers as who I am as a person. … My faith carried over, but it was hard. I was like, ‘I don’t get what’s going on,’” he recounted. “I was struggling, so I just said, ‘If I’m supposed to be done, I’m done, but I’ll leave it all in God’s hands and go from there.’ That gave me freedom — the freedom to play and have fun again. I’ve tried to keep that to this point and soak it all in.”

Nava stopped dwelling on his future and whether he could make his way back to the major leagues and focused more on what he was doing on a day-to-day basis. He left behind his early season struggles, went to work with PawSox hitting coach Chili Davis and regained his stroke from both sides of the plate. He hit .301/.397/.469/.866 in his last 85 games of 2011, and this year, his .316/.421/.505/.926 line led him back to the majors. He is able to appreciate where he’s come from.

“To be back up,” he said, “I’m loving it.”

His second big league chapter — which has seen him reach base 15 times in 20 plate appearances, and that finally netted him his second career homer more than 23 months after the first (“Thank God, I’m not going to have just one,” Nava admitted thinking when he went deep) — offers a teachable moment from a player development perspective. What appears to be a dead end for prospects is not necessarily that. Player development instructors talk all the time about how adversity can offer an opportunity for significant developmental gains, whether Nava last year, Bryce Brentz in his tough debut in Lowell in 2010, Will Middlebrooks in 2009 and 2008, Clay Buchholz in 2008, Daniel Bard in 2007 … and on and on.

Aside from a select few such as Dustin Pedroia, few players travel straight lines to the big leagues. The players who arrive there and become most successful there are the ones who are not defeated by adversity but instead grow because of it.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET: 5-3 LOSS VS. COLUMBUS (INDIANS)

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– Lars Anderson has shown extra-base power, as he is tied for third in the International League with 11 doubles. Still, the 24-year-old had gone deep just once through 26 games this year. But on Tuesday, he not only went deep, but also did so against formidably mustachioed left-hander Eric Berger. It was Anderson’s first homer of the year against a southpaw, giving him a .229/.317/.371/.689 mark against left-handers, as compared to a .262/.364/.446/.810 line against righties.

– Junichi Tazawa struck out three in two perfect innings. In 14 appearances between Triple-A and the majors, he’s been scored upon just once. Between the two levels, he has a 0.83 ERA, 25 strikeouts and three walks in 21 2/3 innings.

– Newly acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik went 2-for-3 with a triple. With his first extra-base hit for the PawSox, he matched his total in 22 games with Lehigh Valley, the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate.

– Tim Britton of the Providence Journal offered a very interesting comparison between Jose Iglesias and Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who struggled at age 20. Britton reveals that, while there was clamoring for Iglesias to open the year in the majors, some Red Sox officials actually discussed the idea of sending him back to Double-A Portland as recently as spring training.

– While Daisuke Matsuzaka has two more scheduled rehab starts before the expiration of his 30-day minor league rehab assignment, it is possible that his minor league tuneup could be extended beyond the 30-day window under which he is currently pitching in Triple-A. Details on that are here.

– Kevin Millwood, who two months in Pawtucket last year before opting out of his Red Sox contract — a few weeks before he might have emerged as a key depth option for the Red Sox — was at Fenway Park with the Mariners and took stock of his time as a Sox minor leaguer.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 2-1 WIN AT READING (PHILLIES)

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– Bryce Brentz extended his streak of hits in consecutive at-bats to eight before finally being retired for the first time in two days on a ninth-inning strikeouts. Brentz, who went 5-for-5 on Sunday, had two singles and then a double (all to center) on Monday before his impressive run came to a close. Over the course of his two games, Brentz raised his average by 46 points (from .248 to .294), his OBP by 40 points (.296 to .336), his slugging percentage by 51 points (from .393 to .444) and his OPS by 91 points (from .689 to .780).

– Right-hander Stolmy Pimentel had been slated to start on Monday, but he was placed on the seven-day DL due to a blister on his right index finger. It is expected to be a minor issue, and the right-hander will likely make his next start.

– With Pimentel on the DL, Anthony Ranaudo likely will be added to the Portland roster and make his first Double-A appearance in the coming days.

– Juan Carlos Linares snapped an 0-for-14 stretch with a single in his third at-bat of the night. In going 1-for-16 over his last four games, he has seen all of his numbers (a .315 average, .391 OBP, .514 slugging, .904 OPS) drop to their lowest point this season.

– Kolbrin Vitek tripled in his fourth at-bat to snap a run of 20 straight at-bats without a hit over a four-game stretch. The three-bagger was Vitek’s first of the season, and gave him eight extra-base hits in 32 games this year.

HIGH-A SALEM RED SOX: RAINED OUT

SINGLE-A GREENVILLE DRIVE: 11-6 LOSS VS. ASHEVILLE (ROCKIES)

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– Madison Younginer allowed four runs in six innings and dropped to 1-4 with a 5.06 ERA on the season. Beyond those superficial numbers, however, there are some indications that he is pitching better than those marks might suggest. He has 28 strikeouts in 32 innings (7.9 per nine innings, compared to 3.4 walks per nine), and when batters put the ball in play against him, he is getting a significant number of groundball outs (he recorded 10 on Monday night), and his 2.00 groundout-to-flyout ratio is sixth in the South Atlantic League.

On Monday, meanwhile, he showed the ability to respond to early adversity. Younginer allowed four runs over the first two innings, but bounced back to tack on four scoreless frames.

– Boss Moanaroa went 0-for-3 with two more walks, and so the first baseman now has a .240 average and a .393 OBP thanks to the second most walks (24) of any Red Sox minor leaguer.

– For the first time all year, Keury De La Cruz is hitless in back-to-back games. He went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on Monday, one day after he went 0-for-4. The 20-year-old still leads the Drive in most offensive categories while hitting .323/.371/.556/.927.

Josh Beckett

Josh Beckett left the mound to deafening boos from the Fenway crowd on Thursday night thanks to his poor start against the Indians, in which he allowed seven runs on seven hits and two walks through 2 1/3 innings. The subpar performance was amplified by the report that Beckett, who was scratched from a previous start thanks to a sore lat, was seen golfing two days before that scheduled start.

Beckett, who has been criticized heavily since that start, will try to quiet the critics on Tuesday in his matchup with the Mariners.

Beckett is 2-4 this season with a 5.97 ERA. The right-hander has struggled with giving up home runs, already surrendering nine, including five in his first start of the season against the Tigers. Beckett did not give up his ninth home run until his 20th start of last season, on July 28.

Between his first start against the Tigers and his last start against the Indians, Beckett had been solid. In those four starts, Beckett was 2-2, lasting at least six innings each appearance and never allowing more than three runs.

The Mariners are relatively unfamiliar with Beckett, as only Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins have faced Beckett more than six times in their careers. However, in their limited experience with Beckett, Dustin Ackley and Mike Carp each have a .500 OBP against him, with Carp driving in three runs.

Red Sox hitters will face off against 23-year-old right-hander Blake Beavan, who is 1-3 in six starts this season with a 4.32 ERA. Beavan made his major league debut last July and remained with the club for the rest of the year, totaling a 5-6 record. While the Mariners are 3-3 in games Beavan has started this year, his only win came in his second start over Oakland on April 15.

Beavan’s last start was May 7, when he left early after taking a line drive off his elbow from Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera. Beavan was diagnosed with a right elbow contusion, and finished the game allowing four hits and one run through three innings pitched.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound right-hander was scheduled to start Sunday’s game at Yankee Stadium, but Mariners manager Eric Wedge pushed Kevin Millwood into Sunday’s slot and gave Beavan two extra days to rest his elbow.

Beavan has lost both of his career starts against the Red Sox. In his first start in Boston, Beavan surrendered three runs on nine hits, striking out four through 6 2/3 innings. Current Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz all doubled off Beavan in the game.

Ortiz had more success against Beavan, as he homered off the young hurler in Beavan’s next matchup against the Red Sox. Beavan allowed six runs on 11 hits through 6 1/3 innings, only striking out one hitter in that start.

Red Sox vs. Beavan (RHP)

Adrian Gonzalez (7 plate appearances): .500 BA/.571 OBP/.833 SLG, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

David Ortiz (7): .429 BA/.429 OBP/1.000 SLG, 1 home run, 1 double, 2 RBI

Dustin Pedroia (7): .333 BA/.333 OBP/.667 SLG, 2 doubles, 1 strikeout

Ryan Sweeney (6): .000 BA/.000 OBP/.000 SLG, 2 strikeouts

Mike Aviles (3): .500 BA/.333 OBP/.500 SLG, 1 RBI

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3): .667 BA/.667 OBP/.667 SLG, 1 strikeout

Mariners vs. Beckett (RHP)

Ichiro (31 plate appearances): .233 BA/.258 OBP/.333 SLG, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 8 strikeouts

Chone Figgins (30): .308 BA/.400 OBP/.385 SLG, 2 doubles, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts

Dustin Ackley (6): .500 BA/.500 OBP/.667 SLG, 1 double, 1 strikeout

Mike Carp (6): .400 BA/.500 OBP/1.000 SLG, 1 home run, 3 RBI, 2 strikeouts

John Jaso (6): .000 BA/.000 OBP/.000 SLG, 3 strikeouts

Justin Smoak (6): .000 BA/.167 OBP/.000 SLG, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Kevin Millwood (4): .000 BA/.250 OBP/.000 OBP, 1 Walk, 1 RBI, 2 strikeouts

Brendan Ryan (4): .250 BA/.250 OBP/.250 OBP, 1 strikeout

Michael Saunders (3): .500 BA/.667 OBP/ 1.000 SLG, 1 double, 1 walk

Casper Wells (2): .500 BA/.500 OBP/2.000 SLG, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 1 strikeout

Daniel Nava was all smiles after his second career homer, and first in nearly two years. (AP)

Back in 2010, when Daniel Nava was a rookie, he stepped to the plate against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was greeted by catcher Kelly Shoppach.

“I stepped in the box and he said, ‘Hey you’re the guy who hit that home run the first pitch.’ I said, ‘Yeah,’” Nava said on Monday night, a reference to the fact that he blasted the first pitch he saw in his first big league at-bat for a grand slam into the Red Sox bullpen on June 12, 2010. “He goes, ‘You really haven’t done much since then’ in terms of hitting another one. I don’t even know if he remembers that but I think it was just a joke. I started lauging, said, ‘It’s true, I can’t really say anything to that.’”

Now, Nava has his rebuttal. After a 23-month wait that stretched across 205 plate appearances, Nava finally went deep for the second time. The switch-hitting left-fielder jumped on an 87 mph first-pitch fastball from Mariners starter Jason Vargas and snuck it just over the Green Monster for his second career homer, and his first as a right-hander.

“I didn’t think it was gone, knowing how big the Wall is, and seeing some other balls that guys have hit, I didn’t feel like it compared to a [Will] Middlebooks bomb or what Shop did later. I thought it was going to go off the Wall and I was surprised that it barely squeaked over. I’ll take it,” said Nava. “When I hit that one, I was like, ‘Thank God, I’m not going to have just one.’ That’s all I was thinking. I wasn’t expecting to, I wasn’t trying, it just happened.”

Of course, the home run was only the latest surprise in what has been a remarkable call-up. The 29-year-old has been a game-changing force for the Red Sox in his five games in the majors, playing a significant role in the fact that his team has won four of those contests. Nava went 1-for-2 with two walks on Monday night. Amazingly, that merely sustained his .750 OBP.

He is now hitting .583 (7-for-12). He has reached base in 15 of his 20 plate appearances, and he’s already collected five extra-base hits.

The last time that he’s had such a stretch?

“Maybe video games?” Nava wondered. “It would be a lot different, I’m sure you guys know, if I was hitting in the three hole. I’m able to hit with a lot of thunder ahead of me and that allows me to get some good pitches and when you have guys on base it makes it a lot easier. If those guys aren’t getting on base it probably wouldn’t be something we’re talking about. Those guys are doing a great job of doing what they’re paid a lot of money to do and I’m just trying to do my part and fill in whenever they need me.”

That said, in a way, it is Nava who is being treated as if a biohazard by other teams. That notion was reinforced in the eighth inning with runners on second and third. After pitcher Shawn Kelley fell behind him, 2-0, the Mariners ordered two wide ones to Nava for his second big league intentional walk.

“I was really shocked that that actually happened,” allowed Nava.

Yet in watching the quality of Nava’s plate appearances, such an outcome would be anything but shocking.

“It’s been phenomenal,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “Every hitter, when they’re in that zone, says they’re seeing the ball well. This was my first time really looking at him closely from the right side. He’s fouling off the tough pitches. He’s taking the balls very early very confidently. He’s putting a good swing on a strikes. That’s a hitter’s wonderland. He’s in it, and I hope he can stay in it for a long time.”

Regardless of whether it’s sustainable or not, Nava’s performance over these five games has erased the idea that his debut represented a case of lightning in a bottle. At the very least, lightning has now struck twice.

“I’ve said this numerous times when guys have come in here and dominated,” Shoppach said of Nava on Monday night. “It’s awesome to watch these guys come up with no fear and get after it.”