FORT MYERS, Fla. — A few early items of interest, on a day when all Red Sox position players have made it into camp:

–Marco Scutaro feels healthy after a lengthy rehab this offseason to address the nerve irritation that led to arm and shoulder discomfort. He said that it was as if he was swinging with one arm for much of last season, since he had no strength in his left arm. (He was unable to lift during the year.)

–Scutaro was grateful to hear that manager Terry Francona had made clear that he will be the Red Sox shortstop out of the gate this year. Asked what he did after hearing the news, Scutaro mused, “We had a barbecue that night and we celebrated like crazy.”

And how did he react to the acquisitions of Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Jenks? “Another barbecue!” he said.

More on Scutaro will be coming shortly.

–Red Sox pitcher Stolmy Pimentel, a 21-year-old who is in big league camp now, offers yet another reminder of how dramatically players signed internationally at age 16 grow. (Pimentel was signed by the Sox for just $25,000 in 2006.) The right-hander says that he now is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds; when he signed, he estimated that he was 6-foot-2 and “so skinny — 170 or something like that”; when he pitched in the Futures at Fenway in 2008, he suggested that he was 185 pounds.

Pimentel said that with his increased size, he feels more power in his pitches, something that has led to a notable uptick in velocity (he touched 95 mph last year for the first time in his career) while also giving him the strength to maintain command.

“This year I feel stronger. Maybe I can throw harder,” said Pimentel. “I worked really hard in the offseason to come in in shape for spring training. I feel ready.”

–Yamaico Navarro had no idea why his Dominican Winter League team only kept him on the roster for a brief period of time. Navarro was a standout in his few weeks with Licey, hitting .261/.400/.478 with four homers, 15 RBI, 14 walks and 14 strikeouts in 20 games. He expressed mixed feelings about the experience in the Dominican — he was pleased with his performance, but disappointed that the strange roster politics of the winter leagues led to it being a short stay. Navarro said that he moved around the diamond with Licey; his versatility is an important component of his potential path to the majors.