FORT MYERS, Fla. — For years, Phil Niekro gave advice to Tim Wakefield when the Red Sox pitcher was, at times, trying to find consistency on the mound.

It appears the time has come for Wakefield to return the favor and he’s only too glad to do so.

John Farrell said Saturday that he spoke at length with Wakefield on Friday and that the retired knuckleball pitcher will come to camp next week and advise promising knuckleballer Steven Wright.

“It’s such a unique pitch and it’s going to be unique to the individual as well,” Farrell said. “Actually, Wake and I had a pretty lengthy conversation [Friday] and he’ll be in camp here in about another week to work with Steven directly so, understanding what worked well for Wake is not to say the same it’s going to be the same exact checkpoints for Steven. That’s such a fraternity, a tight-knit fraternity, the knuckleball pitcher. I think to have Wake as a resource and have him in here, he’s more than willing to share some of his thoughts and talk about it.”

Farrell made it clear that he is not putting the cart ahead of the horse when it comes to projecting where and when Wright might be able to help in the organization.

Acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline last year, Wright made a total of 30 starts for Double-A Akron, Double-A Portland, Triple-A Pawtucket and Escogido in the Dominican Winter League, accumulating a 10-8 record and 2.53 ERA while punching out 7.3 and walking 4.0 batters per nine innings.

As WEEI.com’s Alex Speier pointed out, the right-hander was drafted by the Indians out of the University of Hawaii in 2006 as a pitcher with good command of a low-90s fastball and a good slider that he could throw for strikes. Farrell first got a look at him while farm director with the Indians.

“I think it’s a little premature to begin to talk about Steven, just not knowing him all that well,” Farrell said Saturday. “It’s going to take a few outings to get a better understanding of what works well for him.”

Other notes from Saturday:

On the first day of live BP: “I thought it was a good work day overall, particularly pitchers making their next step, seeing hitters in the box. We came out healthy out of today so it was a good day.” Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury batted against Koji Uehara while David Ortitz and Jonny Gomes batted against Junichi Tazawa. It was while Tazawa was facing Gomes, that the Red Sox had their first scare of camp as Tazawa drilled Gomes in the back with a fastball, causing Gomes to turn to catcher David Ross and shout, “Old Ironsides,” an apparent reference to brushing off the ball. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Mike Napoli returned to the Red Sox clubhouse at JetBlue Park Saturday morning from an MRI on his hips and pronounced himself ready to begin getting ready for the 2013 season.

“I found out that nothing’s changed, which is a good thing,” Napoli told reporters Saturday morning before Day 2 of full-squad workouts. “Medicine is working and the doctors were happy with the MRI. I’m going to be able to move forward, doing a lot more things. I’m going to start taking ground balls on my knees and progress from there. I’m going to start increasing my running program on the treadmill and go from there.”

[Click here to listen to Mike Napoli speak to reporters Saturday morning about his condition]

The 31-year-old Napoli has a diagnosed condition called avascular necrosis. He has been on medication for several weeks, and doctors have told him that because it was caught early, it’s fully treatable and manageable. That, along with Thursday’s MRIs have provided a great deal of comfort as he looks to prepare for his first season in Boston.

“A lot,” Napoli said. “Talking to the doctors they were telling me that it was going to get better with this medicine. But to actually take the MRIs and get the results, it’s good news.

“It’s stayed the same, it didn’t get worse and that’s what we wanted. It’s only been six weeks of the medication. Doctors said it will get better over time but that’s probably going to take a year or maybe more for it to get better on this medication. It’s doing what we wanted, it’s staying the same so I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.

“As of now, I’m not a full, full go but I’m able to progress and do a lot more stuff. Like I’ve said before, I’ll be ready for opening day but we’re going to take it slow and take everything that I have to do now.”

Napoli and the Red Sox had originally agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract before it was shortened to a one-year, $6 million deal with incentives. Now, he can get on with the business of preparing to be Boston’s regular first baseman, which means staying after workouts and working with infield coach Brian Butterfield. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox slugger David Ortiz on the first full day of full squad workouts tested his right Achilles in conditioning and sprint drills with team orthopedist George Theodore looking on.

Manager John Farrell said Friday Ortiz has yet to be cleared for full base-running drills and is working his way back to full strength.

“Part of his current rehab,” Farrell said. “He’s not in the base running or the conditioning drills that we do or are doing. They are specific to his protocol so he feels not only getting stronger but with each passing day, there’s less hesitancy to be a little bit more agile, a little bit more explosive. I know that’s a relative statement but he’s making good progress.”

Ortiz told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on Tuesday that he is feeling about 90 percent.

Daniel Nava

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Daniel Nava has been in the Red Sox system since 2008. That’s long enough to know that the more versatile you are, the more valuable you are to an organization, especially when you’re fighting to stay in the big leagues.

So, when it was suggested that he take some grounders at first base during the early stages of spring training, he wasn’t about to turn his nose at the thought.

“I haven’t played there in pro ball,” Nava said Friday. “I played there back in college. There’s a lot to learn. So I got some good guys throwing me some stuff. But you can’t fake live reps. So that’s the next thing hopefully that goes well too. But the same thing, it’s new. So I’m just trying to go one day at a time.

“From what I’ve been told it’s just something that [the Sox are] interested in. They said you got a shot and it can help the team out.”

Nava knows he has shown the organization he is willing to work hard on his defense in the outfield. Will that translate to the infield?

“Yeah, I think it does,” he said, “because at least they know compared to where I came in 2010 to last year defensively, they’re like, ‘Hey, there’s hope that he actually can maybe block a ball or keep a ball in front of him.’ And obviously that helps when you’re in the organization, if I was new coming here, I think it would probably be less likely if that happened, I guess.”

Nava has been in Fort Myers since early February. Since then, he’s been working on his skills at first, hoping to prove to the Red Sox that he could be a viable back-up to the likes of Lyle Overbay, Mitch Maier, and Mauro Gomez, all of whom have big league experience at first base. That list doesn’t even include Mike Napoli, whose future at first – or anywhere – was still uncertain, with the Red Sox awaiting MRI results this week on his hips. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — For John Farrell, Friday morning’s address to the his team was all business. It was about the business of moving on and making sure every player, coach and uniformed personnel understood what was expected. General manager Ben Cherington, owner John Henry, team president Larry Lucchino and chairman Tom Werner were all on hand to listen and offer support when needed.

“Well it was about 50 minutes,” Farrell said. “There’s a lot to mention. More than anything, a lot of it was introductory for a number of new players, new people they’re coming in contact with. They were able to hear from ownership, from Ben, from myself. Pretty typical, I would think, for an opening of spring training.

“There are a good number of players there is no history with. I think more than anything, that first conversation, first talk is a way to set the tone, which I think was clear. But the thing we want to emphasize is that it’s a matter of what we do on the field and not what we’re talking about. We’re hopeful and with every intent, that our actions speak certainly more volume than our words.

“To a man in that room, everyone associates the name Red Sox with winning. And that came out in conversation throughout the offseason. There’s been an eagerness to get back down here and get started and re-write that script. Different degrees of embarrassment, different degrees of knowing that what transpired last year isn’t the norm or isn’t the expectation or allowable to a certain degree. So, I’m confident of that mindset to re-write that story.”

Was he cheered or booed?

“They’re a business-like group,” Farrell answered the good-natured question with his own dry wit. “Very stoic.”

The team then went out and had their first full squad workout as the heavy rains held off. Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — When John Farrell formally meets with his team for the first time on Friday, he won’t spend a lot of time going over rules.

Why? Because as he explained Thursday, he won’t have many.

“No, I don’t,” Farrell said when asked if he has a long list of rules and guidelines for his team to follow. “I’ll be quite frank – be on time and be professional. Being professional encompasses a number of things, that’s how you play the game, that’s how you treat the people around it, that’s how you treat the guy dressing next to you. This game will always be about the players and yet, we have to provide the boundaries in which we’re going to operate.”

If that sounds a lot like Terry Francona, circa 2004-11, there’s good reason. Farrell, of course, was his pitching coach for several seasons, including a very successful run from 2007-10.

“I think you take parts of the people or managers you played for, those you’ve been around, those you respect and see along the way how players respond to that. The players are first and foremost in this, with obvious and very clear direction.

“Just setting out my expectations and our expectations as a staff. Obviously, some basic rules that will be discussed and expectations of spring training. I think the more they can understand what we’re looking for, it takes away some of that initial wondering, and as I’ve mentioned many times over, I think we as a team need to recognize that we have one heck of an opportunity in front of us.”

“I think when you communicate what you expect, then we can all be held accountable in our way. That’s not to say or be authoritative or being a dictator, that’s just saying what we’re about and what we hope to get accomplished in spring training. Once that’s established, I think that’s the vision that we’re all collectively moving toward.”

On Shane Victorino playing right field: “He’s played right field some in the past so it’s a combination of both, him getting re-acclimated to the position but more importantly, it’s getting to know his teammate. Range and communication are the two areas we’re focused on. Just by virtue of the roster, there’s been a lot of change, a lot of turnover. And that’s where this spring training becomes critical for us, to begin to form our identity as a team. That’s not going to be fully established by the time opening day hits but it’ll be the foundation and ground work to move in that direction.”
Read the rest of this entry »

John Lackey opened up about his health and attitude Thursday in Fort Myers. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — He may not be ready to say he’s 100 percent ready for opening day but John Lackey on Thursday did the next best thing. The 32-year-old rebuilt right-hander pronounced himself ready to take on a full load of preparation this spring, in an effort to get ready for a rebound season in 2013 with the Red Sox.

After a miserable 2011 that saw him pitch with a blown out right elbow toward the end of the season, Lackey was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in 28 starts. That led to Tommy John surgery after the September collapse and a long 18 months leading to this spring in Fort Myers.

“Everything has [felt better],” Lackey said. “It’s nice for it not to hurt, to be honest with you. Definitely feels like I took a few years off [my career]. It’s been a while, probably a couple of years [since I’ve felt this good].

“I had a bad year that year but I also had a blown out elbow. The rest of my years in the big league have been okay. I feel like if healthy, I’ll be just fine.”

[Click here to listen to John Lackey speak out about his prospects for 2013]

“I had a bad year that year but I also had a blown out elbow. The rest of my years in the big league have been okay. I feel like if healthy, I’ll be just fine.”

“I’m not going to get into all that.”">Click here to listen to John Lackey speak out about his prospects for 2013]

Lackey was asked, point blank, if he blames former Red Sox medical staff for an erroneous or misleading diagnosis before suffering the torn ligament in his elbow.

“I’m not going to get into all that,” Lackey said.

Lackey said he’s not going to get ahead of himself in terms of projecting himself ready for opening day.

“We have a long way to opening day,” Lackey said. “I feel great right now. But things can happen sometimes. I think I put in the effort level and the work this offseason to give myself the best chance possible.”

Lackey has not thrown any breaking balls yet off a mound in camp.

“I thrown some breaking balls on flat ground just playing catch, that sort of thing, but I just haven’t thrown it down the hill [mound] yet,” he said. “I threw breaking balls at the end of the season last year when I did that little two-inning thing. I’m not concerned about that.”