Marlon Byrd (center) has been the focus of a resurgent Red Sox offense. (AP)

This has been one weird season for Marlon Byrd.

The man who signed for $15 million over three years with the Cubs before the 2010 season was released by Chicago after going collecting just three hits in his first 43 at-bats this season.

The Cubs picked up the remaining $6 million on his contract and the Red Sox, desperately needing a major league outfielder with the injury to Jacoby Ellsbury, picked him up for the pro-rated major league minimum of $435,000.

Low risk, but so far high reward. The batter who was hitting .070 with the Cubs is batting .333 (10-for-30) with the Red Sox to raise his average to .178. He’s been one of the biggest beneficiaries of hitting in a lineup that produced more runs than any in baseball through the first month.

“Boys can play. Went through a rut. Had a great road trip. Came back and started off with a bang,” Byrd said. “Hitting is contagious. It’s as simple as that. I scuffled for a while over there in Chicago but coming over here, watching these guys, picking their brains, talking to [Kevin Youkilis] and little things he does has helped me. Sometimes, you need to re-learn, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan has had a huge impact on Byrd, sitting down with the talented slugger, who made the 2010 NL All-Star team with the Cubs before falling on hard times in the last 18 months.

“See the ball, hit the ball but at the same time, maybe spreading out just a little bit, making sure I get my hands back in my separation, tucking my front knee in so when I do separate, I’m not going back on my backside,” Byrd said in breaking down the mechanics of his swing. “My timing, starting it when pitcher breaks his hands so it’s not one thing. It sounds difficult but for me, it’s easy to put that all together and simply it.”

Byrd was known for his unusual leg tap and kick to trigger his swing. That’s great when it works but a huge problem when it doesn’t. What did Mags suggest?

“Mags is huge,” Byrd said after Monday’s 11-6 Red Sox win, in which he went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. “Mags just said, ‘Forget about everything you’re doing, go back to 2009, 2010, and let’s start over and go from there.’ Forget the tap step, forget the leg kick, get [front foot] down early and go to work. We just went back to the old work.”

The red-hot David Ortiz has also help Byrd by simply hitting in the same lineup.

“It’s unbelievable,” Byrd beamed. “It takes the pressure off a lot of guys when David does his thing. You don’t have to scrounge for runs. You’re not trying to get a bunt down or really try to hit a home run to get an inning going. He gets it going for us. He’s a fire-starter and that’s what he’s doing.”

Byrd had to overcome something else Monday – stepping into the same batter’s box in which he was beaned by now-teammate Alfredo Aceves 12 months ago. For the first time since taking a pitch below the left eye, Byrd had the chance to hit at Fenway, and showed no ill effects.

“You don’t ever want that to happen but it’s part of the game,” Byrd said. “Some guys get hit, some guys don’t. It happened to me. Hopefully, it doesn’t ever happen again.”

Byrd says he couldn’t be happier to have found a new home at Fenway.

“Wonderful, wonderful. I always loved playing here. Usually, I get booed. The only cheers were when I got hit last year and I stood up and actually walked off the field. Other than that, it’s great. I love it. I got to hear “Sweet Caroline” again in a Red Sox uniform and it didn’t feel weird singing it.”

Aaron Cook has a 1.89 ERA in five Triple-A starts. (AP)

With a May 1 deadline looming on a major league option, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said Monday that if the Red Sox decide to promote righthander Aaron Cook, he will begin in the team’s bullpen. Valentine said he met with general manager Ben Cherington earlier in the day Monday to discuss a possible landing spot for him on the big league 25-man roster.

“Ben was in this afternoon,” Valentine said. “We talked again on that. I’m sure he has all his ducks in order and again, I don’t know exactly when, why, how, these deadlines and all that. Everyone’s opinion has been shared.”

If the Red Sox select him, Cook will receive $1.5 million. If they don’t he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Valentine made it clear that if the team promotes him by Tuesday, he will come out of the bullpen, despite going 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in five starts for Pawtucket this April.

“I haven’t talked to him so I can’t speak for him,” Valentine said. “When he throws his sinker, it’s a real good pitch. A lot of hitters hit the top of it. He didn’t pitch that well [in spring training], but when he was throwing well and had that sinker, I really liked it. It’s a little different pitch than many people feature. Competitiveness, he works quickly, he fields his position, has game presence, all that good stuff. I like that, too.”

Asked about how he would manage Cook and use him out of the pen after making a series of starts for Triple-A Pawtucket to start the season, Valentine admitted he’d have his hands full.

“I think it’d be challenging,” Valentine said. “Right now, I couldn’t say it would be anything other than [relief pitching].”

Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to make his next rehab start this Friday for Triple-A Pawtucket. It will be his third of the spring after starts for Class A Salem and Double-A Portland.

“Depending on the weather, we’re trying to make a plan so in case there’s bad weather, he doesn’t get off schedule,” Valentine said Monday.

Last Saturday, Matsuzaka faced 17 hitters over 4 2/3 innings, Matsuzaka allowed one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out seven (all swinging), in a game the SeaDogs won, 9-1, at Hadlock Field in Portland. Read the rest of this entry »

Until Theo Epstein's future is determined, the Sox will not start interviewing candidates to replace Terry Francona. (AP)

The search for the next Red Sox manager will need to wait for the decision about the Red Sox general manager.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, after 10 years in the organization and nine in his current role as general manager, is currently at a crossroads. The Cubs have requested permission to talk to him about a position in their organization.

The idea of being the man who not only ended an 86-year championship drought in Boston but also an even longer fallow period (103 years and counting) with the Cubs has undeniable appeal. At the same time, it is not a foregone conclusion that Epstein would leave Boston at this time, with a year remaining on his contract and coming off of two seasons without reaching the postseason, most recently as a result of an unfathomable 7-20 performance in September that cost the Sox a playoff berth on the season’s final day.

According to a major league source, the Sox — who are currently performing due diligence on potential managerial candidates to replace Terry Francona, who left Boston after eight years — will not bring in candidates to interview for the position until after the status of Epstein is resolved. Read the rest of this entry »

Dave Magadan

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday to break down the performance of Boston’s big bats, including Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. To hear the conversation, visit the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Carl Crawford was expected to be a key contributor for the Red Sox when he signed a $142 million contract in the offseason, but his .252 batting average and .288 on-base percentage have disappointed Boston fans to this point in the season. Still, Magadan has seen significant progress during the last few games, and he said Crawford is ready to return to his Tampa Bay form.

“I think he is starting to get more comfortable at the plate,” Magadan said. “I know watching him throughout the year he’s had a lot of swings where he’s very late and he’s kind of using his upper body to flick the ball the other way and flick the ball on the ground. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve got to be on time and you’ve got to be in a position where you can get your legs into your swing a little bit.

“I think what we’ve seen since Kansas City, I know he’s not lighting the world on fire, but he’s really starting to drive the ball, especially from the pull side. He hit the home run in Kansas City, he’s gotten a couple hits here in Texas to the pull side. He’s really hit some balls hard that have gotten caught. So I’ve seen some positive signs and he feels really good about what he’s doing and he’s really positive about it and he’s showing a little more confidence. … We’re going to see him start to break out of it, and I think we’re starting to see that over the last four or five games.”

Gonzalez has been a viable MVP candidate for his performance in Boston, although his home run numbers have declined since the All-Star break. While Gonzalez denied that his participation in the Home Run Derby led to the late-season power outage, Magadan said the contest did a number on the slugger’s swing.

“I know [Gonzalez] said that it didn’t have anything to do with it,” Magadan said. “Watching him take batting practice every day and the whole first half of the season, he would hit probably 80 percent of his balls, he’d hit them center, all the way down the left-field line and he would drive the ball to that side of the field and then all of a sudden you go to the Home Run Derby and every swing that he takes is to the pull side.

Read the rest of this entry »

FORT MYERS, Fla. — In his third day of testing the surgically repaired labrum in his right shoulder, Adrian Gonzalez hit off a batting tee for approximately 10 minutes on Thursday.

With trainer Mike Reinold looking on, he increased his load up to 35 swings just before 8 a.m. after starting out with 20 on Monday and 30 on Tuesday. Gonzalez took Wednesday off in what Red Sox manager Terry Francona termed was a “re-gen” day to let it rest and see how it responded after two straight days.

Hitting coach Dave Magadan, who observed his swings earlier in the week, was busy watching Jarrod Saltalamacchia also hit off a tee, a sign the Red Sox aren’t overly concerned about Gonzalez’s mechanics or his work load.

Gonzalez told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford he felt comfortable and reassured with his first swing on Monday and has made progress ever since.

Francona, who said he has been very impressed with Gonzalez’s work ethic, has not placed a specific timetable on his return to live batting practice or participation in spring training games.

Gonzalez first felt pain in his right shoulder last May with the Padres and managed to play through the pain and finished with 160 games played, a .298 average with 31 homers and 101 RBIs.

Dave Magadan

Dave Magadan was sold from the very first swings.

Magadan first witnessed Adrian Gonzalez’ left-handed swing in the San Diego Padres’ 2006 spring training, when the then-24-year-old first baseman was being integrated into his new environment just more than a month following his trade from the Rangers.

“I liked him from the beginning,” said the Red Sox hitting coach. “He’s got such a pretty swing. I remember the first time I threw batting practice to him. I was like ‘I can’t throw anywhere where he doesn’t drive it to that part of the park where I’m throwing it to him.’ I really liked that about him. He uses the whole field. He’s patient. He swings at strikes. He was a very mature hitter at that age where I first saw him. He had a really good idea what he was doing at the plate.”

Gonzalez wasn’t supposed to make the Padres that season, but because of an injury to starter Ryan Klesko he was forced into action. The results were a .304 batting average to go with 24 homers in 156 games, and an expanding appreciation from Magadan (whom was the Padres hitting coach at the time).

“He’s just a really smart hitter,” said Magadan on Gonzalez, who appears to be on the verge of joining the Red Sox via a trade that would send minor-leaguers Anthony Rizzo, Casey Kelly, and Reymond Fuentes to San Diego. “He’s very mature. He knows himself, pitching and how he’s going to get pitched. He’s a student of his swing, and it shows.

“He always took a lot of time to look at video, look at the pitchers. Look at how pitchers he was going to face pitched against hitters that were similar to himself. He always went in with a really good plan. He always had a really good idea how he was going to get pitch. You look at his numbers over the last four years and the proof is in the pudding. He’s put up big numbers in a park that’s hard to hit in, in a lineup he wasn’t exactly surrounded by the ’27 Yankees, and he still put up the numbers. That’s pretty impressive.”

All that is left to officially reunite Gonzalez with Magadan appears to be the slugger agreeing on a contract extension. (He is slated to make $6.23 million in 2011, the final year of his current deal.)

And while Gonzalez’ numbers, and history, aren’t hard to digest, like many others, the Sox’ hitting coach sees the production only improving if/when the middle-of-the-order bat starts calling Fenway Park home.

“I think he would hit anywhere. He put up great numbers playing at Petco (Park) 81 games a year. He’s going to hit no matter where he is at. But that being said, I think he’s would thrive at Fenway,” Magadan said. “He’s got the ability to drive the ball to the opposite field with height. He’s going to be able to get balls over the Monster. He’s going to have the ability to line balls off the wall for doubles. And he’s got good pull power, too. He picks his spot, looks for balls on the inner-third, and does damage with it.

“I always loved Adrian. He’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate. He’s got a lot of passion for the game. He takes a lot of pride in not only his bat, but his glove. I think he would fit in nicely what we’re trying to do in Boston.”

A busy day for updates at Fenway Park, focused chiefly on roster moves that are and are not being made. In short: Mike Cameron has been put back on the disabled list due to the ongoing (and, in fact, growing) discomfort with his abdominal strain. He and the team are hopeful that rest and treatment will allow him to play again this year, but both the player and club are aware of the possibility that the 37-year-old will need season-ending surgery.

In his place, the Sox recalled Daniel Nava from Triple-A Pawtucket, likely as a placeholder for Jacoby Ellsbury, who seems likely to return in the next few days.

Meanwhile, there are no new developments to report in the Mike Lowell situation. For more on the options facing Lowell and the Sox, click here.

Details:

CAMERON

Cameron has played in fewer than half of the Red Sox’ games this year, entering just 48 of Boston’s 105 contests entering Monday. Yet he has gone to extraordinary lengths to play in even that many contests while dealing with an abdominal strain that he and the Sox have understood will eventually require surgery to repair.

“He actually had been handling it unbelievably,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “I don’t know how he’s handled it for as long as he has. But the area has been getting a little bit bigger. There’s some areas around, like the groin, and just higher up, where it’s starting to get a little bit bigger, and make it harder for him to bounce back.”

For now, the Sox are hopeful that they might be able to hold off on the surgery until after the season, and that by being placed on the 15-day disabled list, he might be able to put himself in a position to play with rest and treatment. But, if that fails, the team acknowledges that surgery would then be necessary.

Cameron was certainly hoping it would not come to that, since such a procedure would be season-ending. At the same time, he acknowledges that it has become difficult for him to contribute given his physical limitations.

“I don’t think there’s been a day I’ve woken up there hasn’t been discomfort,” said Cameron. “I’ve just been fighting. I’ve had some good days. I’ve had some pretty good days. Obviously I can say you can tell the difference in my swing when the bat is flying through the zone. The last couple of days, I was just kind of cutting myself off and that’s just been part of it. it’s just one of those things where I’ve been going at it about as hard a s I possibly could. Sometimes it gets to a point where the body just stops.

“I haven’t been myself out there,” he added. “Probably most frustrating is not being able to run like I want to, not being able to just be free with everything. I had to make some adjustments that I never had to make before in my life, or my baseball career. It’s made it a little bit difficult, just the challenge of being able to go out and see if I can perform without all the strengths I’ve been given.”

ELLSBURY

Ellsbury has gone 4-for-9 in two games in Triple-A Pawtucket, following a three-game rehab stint in the Gulf Coast League. By all accounts, he has looked good at the plate and in the field.

“He looked pretty good. He seemed like his timing was on in the box,” said Nava. “He was pretty locked in, taking good swings, not swinging at bad pitches. Out in the field, he was running around. He looked fine. From what I saw, he looked good.”

However, it was Nava rather than Ellsbury who was called up. Ellsbury spent Monday working out with the Red Sox, will play another rehab game in Pawtucket on Tuesday and then be re-evaluated by the Sox on Wednesday. The Sox did not want the circumstance of Cameron’s injury to lead them to rush Ellsbury’s rehab.

“We’re kind of walking that line where we all know potentially what he can mean to us. But he still feels it at times,” said Francona. “We’re trying to not get caught up in like a Cameron going down and then activating a guy before he’s ready. We’re just trying to use the proper judgment, regardless of what’s going on here. I think that’s probably the only way to do it.”

NAVA

Nava may be up for just a couple of days, holding a roster spot for Ellsbury. He had nearly arrived at McCoy Stadium for tonight’s PawSox game before getting a call from Pawtucket manager Torey Lovullo saying that there needed to be a conversation. In Lovullo’s office, Nava was informed that he was to make the drive north. He arrived at Fenway Park at 4 p.m., just prior to the start of batting practice.

In 11 games back in the minors following his taste of the big leagues, Nava was hitting .310/.444/.429/.873. He had been focused on improving his mechanics as a right-handed hitter, the side from which the switch-hitter struggled while in the majors.

OTHER NOTES

–Dustin Pedroia continues to rehab his broken foot. He has been comfortable doing almost everything, but there remains some discomfort when he runs.

“He’s really doing everything, but the running is still the one thing that he feels. Until he doesn’t, or until that pain is very minimal, we’ve got to kind of keep a tight rein on him,” said Francona. “I think he understands that.”

Francona said that, given the amount of time that Pedroia has missed, he will likely need some period of time on a rehab assignment, but the manager expected that the second baseman will be able to return soon after he is running again.

–Hitting coach Dave Magadan has been away from the club since Friday due to the death of his father. He is scheduled to return to the club on Tuesday.

–First base coach Ron Johnson is also away from the club due to a family medical emergency.