Dustin Pedroia was in the lineup on Friday after an MRI revealed that he has no structural damage to his injured knee.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said an MRI on Dustin Pedroia’s right knee indicated no serious injury and the second baseman was cleared to start Friday night in the series opener against Philadelphia at Fenway Park.

“It came back real clean and that’s good,” Francona said. “The fact that he can go out there and know he’s not going to hurt himself is good.”

Pedroia is batting second and starting at second base while Kevin Youkilis is getting the night off as he treats his back spasms. Francona said Youkilis could be available to pinch-hit in the series opener against the Phillies.

–The news was not as promising on outfielder Jeremy Hermida, who was placed on the disabled list after suffering injuries in a collision last week with third baseman Adrian Beltre. Francona said that five ribs have non-displaced hairline fractures. Francona said the injury is “like a deep bone bruise and is “eerily similar” to that of Jacoby Ellsbury, who has spent significant time on the mend from a collision of his own with Beltre and a dive two weeks ago in Philadelphia. That has left the Sox contemplating ways in which their team can be Beltre-proofed.

“Guys have been talking, we might have to get him on the UFC tour to see if he can take some of those knees to someone else,” Hermida joked. “I’m sure he feels bad about it too. It’s just one of those things you can’t avoid and it’s just a freak thing that I’ve never seen happen and unfortunately it happened twice within a month and a half of each other.”

[Click here to listen to Francona explain the five fractured ribs of Hermida.]

The best-case scenario for Hermida, Francona said, is that he resumes baseball activities within three or four days if he is symptom free.

“He’s safe to play right now,” Francona said of Hermida, but added that Red Sox “don’t know if that’s in his best interest.”

Hermida incurred the injury on June 4, when Beltre caught him on the arm and in the chest while both raced for a foul ball in Baltimore. The next day, Hermida underwent a CT scan to examine the soreness on the left side of his chest. The scan came back clean, and Hermida felt steady improvement over the next few days. But after returning to the lineup on Wednesday, his progress was halted.

“I was willing to go through as much as I could as long as I wasn’t setting myself back. That’s what I tried to do the other day. Unfortunately after playing the other day, it got a little bit worse and that’s when I felt the need to check it out a little more,” said Hermida. “To have that happen to two guys on the same team on the same play, saying that’s a freak thing might even be an understatement. I think you see that play happen a lot where nobody can really call it because you want to be sure you can get there and one guy goes high and one goes low. That’s happened to me before. It’s happened to almost every outfielder or corner infielder I’m sure. Just what happened to both of us is just a freak thing. Accept it, move forward and try to do the best you can each day.”

–In all, the Red Sox made four roster moves prior to their series-opener with the Phillies on Friday, including activating closer Jonathan Papelbon from the family leave/bereavement list. The team also designated reliever Joe Nelson for assignment and recalled Scott Atchison. Nelson said he would likely retire if another team didn’t claim him but also acknowledged that his statement could have just been a case of his emotions talking. The 35-year-old right hander has a career ERA of 4.38 in parts of six seasons since entering the league in 2001.

“In all likelihood, if I clear waivers, I’ve probably thrown my last pitch. I don’t anticipate myself going back to Pawtucket, but that’s emotion talking right now and we’ll probably reanalyze it when I’m not as disappointed,” said Nelson. “I had every opportunity and I didn’t produce. The thought of going to Triple-A doesn’t sound that great. We’ll wait and see what options present themselves. As a whole, you gotta perform better. That’s what it comes down to. They gave me every chance to succeed and I didn’t make the pitches. There’s not a hard feeling in the world between the Red Sox and me. Every day I got to spend up here was a blessing and not taken for granted. I need to do a better job.”

–Starter Josh Beckett said that everything remained on track for him to throw on Saturday for the first time since he experienced discomfort in his latissimus muscle while throwing a bullpen session on May 28.

Ordinarily, the Pirates’ spring training ballpark in Bradenton is a wind tunnel that threatens to carry every fly ball over the fences. McKechnie Field usually plays as if it has the dimensions of  a Little League park. The foremost weapon for a pitcher to counteract those wind currents is thus fairly obvious: the strikeout.

That was a point that Josh Beckett made in dramatic fashion. His previous start had come last Friday, also against the Pirates in Bradenton, when he performed like a pitcher who’d been peeled off a sick bed. Beckett allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings that day, and admitted that he was running on fumes.

That was not the case on Wednesday, as the likely Opening Day starter allowed just one run on three hits in five innings while punching out nine. Even in an exhibition game, it appeared that Beckett was sending a message that he will not suffer mound embarrassment lightly. He built his pitch count to 85, then added 10 more pitches in the bullpen in an outing that represented a solid foundation for the start of the regular season.

– The Red Sox got the news that they had anticipated, with X-rays showing that Dustin Pedroia had not done any real damage to his left wrist while making a diving play on Tuesday. Pedroia is expected to take batting practice on Thursday and return to game activity on Friday.

– Mike Lowell suggests that his right hip is in better shape this year than it was in 2009, when he was still in the early stages of recovering from the surgery he underwent to repair a torn labrum. That said, he was fairly blunt when asked whether his hip was as healthy as it was before the surgery.

“No, and it probably never will be,” he said.

Lowell explained that he has been able to make significant strength gains in his hip, but that the “significant” cartilage damage in his right hip will never be repaired. He didn’t understand that would be the case at the time of the surgery, making his current condition “disappointing.” He said that he will likely never be able to run as well as he did in 2007.

– Lowell did say that he’s adapting to the novelty of the social dynamic of being a first baseman.

“I feel like I know (Pittsburgh first base coach Carlos) Garcia, he’s almost like family after just five innings. No wonder everybody loves Sean Casey so much. He knows your whole family history. A lot more talk, a lot more talk. More bantering.”

For more on Lowell’s acclimation to first, click here.

– Reliever Joe Nelson has been building a solid case for a bullpen spot. He punched out a pair of Pirates on Wednesday, and now has struck out 12 batters in his nine spring innings. Nelson has a June 1 opt-out in the minor league deal he signed with the Sox. But if he continues to pitch as he has, that likely won’t come into play.

– Another reliever also showed promise in his first outing of the spring. Alan Embree, facing a Double-A Orioles team in Fort Myers, needed just 12 pitches (11 strikes) to sail through an inning of work with a strikeout, groundout and flyout. He is slated to pitch in a big league spring training game on Saturday.

– Mike Cameron homered on Wednesday, continuing some ridiculous offensive performances by Sox outfielders. Cameron is hitting .400/.474/.733, Jeremy Hermida is hitting .400/.447/.571 and Josh Reddick is at .400/.429/.700 after clubbing his seventh double of the spring on Wednesday.

– Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell watched his son, Pirates minor leaguer Jeremy Farrell, go deep to straightaway center field on Wednesday. Jeremy Farrell is now 2-for-2 with a homer in games against his father’s club this spring.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — On Saturday, the dynamic of those competing for spots at the back of the Red Sox bullpen was suddenly altered. The arrival of Alan Embree meant that other pitchers trying to make an impression on team officials suddenly had to recalculate their odds.

Joe Nelson, after striking out the side in the ninth inning, made clear that he bore no ill will towards Embree, even though the veteran left-hander may ultimately cost him a job in the major leagues. Nelson stood up and assumed responsibility for his professional life. The only thing he could do was perform to the best of his abilities; if the Sox believed they had a superior alternative, then they had an obligation to pursue it.

“The Red Sox owe it to the people who own the team, Red Sox Nation, everybody on the team to exhaust every possible avenue,” said Nelson. “That’s their job, and that’s why they’re good at what they do. They’ll bring in a truck driver if he says he can throw 90 mph and throw a splitter. And if they check him out themselves and he can, they’ll probably keep him around for a little bit and look at him. They have to exhaust every avenue. That’s due diligence. I expect that from the organization that I’m with.

“I’m not rooting against [Scott Atchison] or [Brian Shouse] or [Embree]. We can only do what we’re capable of. In the end, the decision is going to come behind closed doors, and we’re not going to have any say in it besides what we do on the field,” he added.

That approach to adversity had been drummed into Nelson nearly two decades ago by an unlikely source. Nelson received an education in media communications as a high schooler when he played alongside future NBA star Jason Kidd in both baseball and basketball.

“The way he handled the media, press, pressure. Jason was the Gatorade player of the year. We played in front of 25,000 at the Oakland Coliseum when the Lakers weren’t drawing 25,000. The way he carried himself was a very good teaching tool for me as far as involvement with pro ball, how to deal with the media,” Nelson explained. “Jason was very accountable at a young age. When we lost, it was his fault. When we won, it was a team effort. That’s an admirable quality.”

Of course, Kidd’s skills were not limited to media management when he teamed with Nelson at St. Joseph’s Notre Dame High School in Alameda, Calif. (class of ’94). His athletic skills across sports were something to behold.

“He could have been a centerfielder in the big leagues or a running back in the NFL. Instead he chose to be a Hall of Fame basketball player. He was unbelievable. He was, without question, the best athlete I’ve ever been around. He was special,” said Nelson. “I watched him hit a ball about 500 feet and break an aluminum bat. The bat shattered in two, the ball went 500 feet. He was strong.”

Nelson played both baseball and basketball with Kidd. The 35-year-old pitcher acknowledges that his basketball skills lagged slightly behind what Kidd was capable of doing on a baseball field.

Nonetheless, Nelson received not only a fascinating lesson in professionalism from his high school teammate, but also became a footnote in history. Kidd owns the high school record for most career assists (1,155). And the player who made the shot that set the record was a certain two-guard who is now pitching for a job with the Red Sox.

“Unless I made a steal, I wasn’t involved in the offense too much,” said Nelson. “I hit the shot that broke the all-time assists record, one of about 10 buckets I made all year. Filling the lane, a little eight-foot bank off the glass. That was my job: playing defense, and filling the lane.”

Now, it is Nelson’s hope that his job in 2010 will be something more than that. He is hoping to continue a major league career that has withstood multiple year-long recoveries from labrum surgery.

He feels that he has found something in this camp, that he fixed a mechanical flaw that may allow him to regain the form that he showed in his career-best 2008 campaign, when he recorded a 2.00 ERA in 59 games for the Marlins. Nelson is convinced that he can contribute. And yet, as badly as he wants to make the Sox roster for Opening Day, he strikes the same professional tone that was taught to him before college.

“We all think we’re going to pitch in the big leagues. It may not be on our timetable, because we all want to be there April 4, and that’s probably not going to happen. Pitching now, I’m trying to make the team. If I don’t make it, I want to be the first one they call.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The arrival of Alan Embree was noticed.

The veteran left-hander’s minor-league deal — which calls for a $500,000 salary if he is added to the major league team, and includes an April 15 opt-out — adds another presence into the mix for the spots at the back of the Red Sox bullpen. And so, the plot thickens, with Embree joining the group of left-hander Brian Shouse and right-handers Joe Nelson and Scott Atchison to make the club.

Nelson, who struck out the side while featuring an excellent changeup in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 6-0 win over the Orioles, suggested that the group did not resent the addition of a new competitor for a big league job.

“The Red Sox owe it to the people who own the team, Red Sox Nation, everybody on the team to exhaust every possible avenue,” said Nelson. “That’s their job, and that’s why they’re good at what they do. They’ll bring in a truck driver if he says he can throw 90 mph and throw a splitter. And if they check him out themselves and he can, they’ll probably keep him around for a little bit and look at him. They have to exhaust every avenue. That’s due diligence. I expect that from the organization that I’m with.

“I’m not rooting against [Scott Atchison] or [Brian Shouse] or [Embree]. We can only do what we’re capable of. In the end, the decision is going to come behind closed doors, and we’re not going to have any say in it besides what we do on the field,” he added. “We all think we’re going to pitch in the big leagues. It may not be on our timetable, because we all want to be there April 4, and that’s probably not going to happen. Pitching now, I’m trying to make the team. If I don’t make it, I want to be the first one they call.”

Nelson certainly didn’t hurt his cause on Saturday. He made a mechanical tweak to his stride during a bullpen session on Thursday (an off-day in Red Sox camp). The results were almost immediate, with Nelson finding increased life on his fastball and his swing-and-miss changeup. He punched out two left-handed hitters and one right-hander.

“I’m excited about how I threw today. I can honesty say that was the best I’ve thrown in 16 months,” said Nelson. “You have breakthroughs like this every once in a while. At my age, you usually don’t have them. They’re all used up. But I felt like I had one. … Something clicked today. Now I have a few outings to try to work on it, see if I can hone it in and get back to where I was in ’08.”

– Starter Daisuke Matsuzaka will throw two innings in a minor league camp game at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

“It will be nice to get him on that road to coming back,” said Francona.

– Alan Embree threw a bullpen session on Saturday morning. While he suggested this morning that he is nearly game ready after working out on his own in Oregon, the Red Sox will ask him to proceed in more deliberate fashion. He will throw another bullpen session in a couple of days before the Sox contemplate next steps.

“I think his enthusiasm, we don’t want to temper it, but we don’t need to rush this. I think that would be a mistake. He wants to get in a game yesterday. We’re going to try to slow that down just a bit,” said Francona. “We’d like to be in this for the long haul, not for three days from now.”

– Reliever Manny Delcarmen put up a scoreless inning after getting sick while warming up. He experienced some dizziness on the mound. In the inning, he hit 91 mph with his fastball.

– Francona praised minor leaguer Pete Hissey, who worked deep into counts and collected a pair of singles. The left-handed hitter lashed one hit to left, and another to center. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2008 draft whom the Sox signed to a $1 million bonus. After a rough first half last year in Single-A Greenville, Hissey put up huge numbers in the second half to finish the year with a line of .279/.356/.347/.703.

– The Red Sox reassigned shortstop Gil Velazquez to minor-league camp, where he will receive treatment for his injured left thumb, while pitcher Felix Doubront and catcher Mark Wagner were optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Jonathan Papelbon spent an offseason searching for -- and, he thinks, finding some -- answers. (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Pitchers continued to trickle into Fort Myers. Newcomers to the Sox’ minor-league complex included Jonathan Papelbon (flanked by brother Joshua), Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Boof Bonser.

–Bonser may have gotten a contract from the Red Sox (a one-year, $650,000 deal), but as of yesterday, he had yet to receive any gear from the club, as he entered the team’s complex still sporting a Twins bag with his former digits (No. 26) gracing the side.

For those looking to buy “Boof” jerseys, he appears set to wear No. 30 with Boston, according to redsox.com. For those who are curious to track the goings-on of Chris Province, the former Red Sox pitcher/groundball machine who was dealt to Minnesota in exchange for Bonser, check out his Twitter account.

–One pitcher who is competing with Bonser for one of the two openings at the back of the Red Sox’ bullpen, Joe Nelson, had a memorable — or, more accurately, memory-filled — bullpen session. Nelson threw off of the same mound that he suggests marked the starting point for him to salvage his career in 2004 following a pair of labrum surgeries.

Nelson, who is with the Sox on a minor-league deal, attended three of the last four winter meetings: in Orlando (2006), Las Vegas (2008) and Indianapolis (2009), and hopes to remain in Major League Baseball after his playing days conclude. Insofar as he’s now entering his 15th year in professional baseball, he readily admits that he’s ill-suited for any other profession. Nelson’s last job before entering pro ball? He worked at Bingo games at St. Joseph’s Notre Dame, his high school in Alameda, Calif.

– One pitcher who is not competing with Bonser and Nelson for a bullpen spot is Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon’s 1.84 career ERA is the lowest of any pitcher to take the mound post-World War I (min. 200 innings).

Even so, the pitcher feels that he has something to prove in 2010, given that his 2009 season concluded in shocking fashion — his 0.00 postseason ERA turning into scrap metal when the Angels tagged the Sox closer for three runs in a Game 3 comeback that ended Boston’s season. Before that slip, Papelbon had been the closest thing to a mortal lock in postseason games that had ever existed. Still, the fact that he instead proved mortal for a day puts him in some excellent company: closers-par-excellence such as Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera have all endured noteworthy failures in the postseason spotlight. And all responded with some of the best stretches of their careers.

– Papelbon also took time to talk contract. He’s signed to a one-year, $9.35 million deal for 2010, and free agency looms following the 2011 season. Even so, Papelbon insists that it should not be taken as a given that he will be leaving the Sox when he is eligible to test the open market. He insisted that he’d love to stay with the team that drafted him.

QUOTABLE

“Of course I would love to be with Boston for a long time, but this is the way it is right now. I’m happy going one year at a time. This is the organization I started with, this is the organization that gave me the opportunity to play major league baseball so of course I would love to stay here for 15 years. Right now one year at a time is the way it’s working and I’m happy and everybody else is happy, so why not?” — Closer Jonathan Papelbon on signing a one-year, $9.35 million deal with the Sox, rather than seeking a long-term deal.

THE INJURY WARD

– The biggest news of the day came with word that Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka is experiencing some measure of stiffness of a strain in his back. According to a source, the injury — which may be the result of his rigorous offseason training program — is not considered serious. The Sox will evaluate the pitcher over the next couple of days to determine its severity; during that time, he won’t throw. That said, the expectation is that even if Matsuzaka falls a couple days behind his fellow pitchers at the start of camp, he’ll still be able to have a normal spring training workload and be ready for the start of the regular season.

– Tim Wakefield, who underwent back surgery to resolve a bulging disc following last season, arrived in camp and threw a bullpen session.

NO MINOR DEVELOPMENTS

– A year ago, right-hander Stephen Fife (a 3rd-round pick out of the University of Utah in 2008) experienced shoulder fatigue after an offseason spent crushing the weight room. This past winter, Fife focused more on cardio work, and reports that he is leaner and feels great, as does his arm.

The right-hander has fallen just below the radar of up-and-coming Sox pitchers, but his early professional career has shown significant promise. He had a 2.33 ERA with Lowell in 2008, and though he started last season in extended spring training while getting his shoulder in shape, he pitched well at two levels of competition in 2009.

He pitched his way out of Low A Greenville after recording a 2.70 ERA and 35-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight starts. Then, after his promotion to Salem, he had a 4.44 ERA that was somewhat deceiving. Numbers such as a 51-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio (the best in the High A Carolina League, just ahead of teammate Casey Kelly’s 5:1 ratio) in 50.2 innings, the 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.85 groundouts per flyout were all markers of significant promise.

Fife’s ERA was skewed by one particularly horrific outing in Salem. He got tagged for seven runs (on four homers) in one inning in his seventh start in High A. Without that single eyesore, he’d have had a 3.26 ERA at the level.

In other words, the 23-year-old — who relies chiefly on a sinking fastball in the low-90s and a hammer curve — could be in position to improve his prospect status considerably with a healthy 2010.

– Michael Bowden eschewed his usual offseason spent at API in Pensacola. Instead, he worked out at home, marking the first time since high school that the Chicago-area native had spent as many as three straight months at home.

Check back for the latest throughout Wednesday at the Full Count blog, or follow WEEI.com’s coverage via Twitter, where @bradfo and @alexspeier will be offering morsels from The Fort, 140 characters at a time.

The Red Sox officially announced their minor league deals with right-handed reliever Joe Nelson and catcher Gustavo Molina. Both players have been added to the roster of Triple-A Pawtucket. The team also announced some changes to its baseball operations department.

The press release follows. For more information on Nelson, click here.

The Red Sox today announced the signings of catcher Gustavo Molina and right-handed pitcher Joe Nelson to 2010 minor league contracts. In addition, both players have been invited to Boston’s Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster players.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.

Molina, 27, spent all of last year with Washington’s Triple-A Syracuse affiliate, batting .209 (44-for-211) with two home runs and 24 RBI in 72 games. He appeared in 68 games behind the plate, posting a .986 (6 E/415 TC) fielding percentage while throwing out 16 of 39 attempted base stealers (41 percent). Originally signed by the Chicago White Sox as an international free agent in 2000, Molina has played 19 Major League games for the White Sox (2007), Baltimore Orioles (2007) and New York Mets (2008), batting .118 (4-for-34) with one RBI.

Nelson, 35, split last season between the Tampa Bay Rays and Triple-A Durham. He began the year with the Rays, going 3-0 with three saves and a 4.02 ERA (18 ER/40.1 IP) in 42 relief outings before an August 1 option to Durham. The right-hander made 13 appearances for the Bulls, going 2-2 with a 6.23 ERA (12 ER/17.1 IP).

He returns for a second stint with Boston after pitching in three games for the club in 2004. Originally selected by Atlanta in the fourth round of the 1996 draft, Nelson is 7-2 with 13 saves and a 4.07 ERA (65 ER/143.2 IP) in 149 career Major League games for the Braves (2001), Red Sox (2004), Kansas City Royals (2006), Florida Marlins (2008) and Rays (2009).

Both players are on the Pawtucket roster.

RED SOX ANNOUNCE CHANGES IN BASEBALL OPERATIONS: The Red Sox today announced three changes in Baseball Operations. Eddie Romero, who has served as Coordinator, Latin American Operations since 2006, was promoted to Assistant Director, Latin American Operations. Gus Quattlebaum was promoted to Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting after working for the club as a Major League scout since 2006. Steve Peck was named a Major League scout. He joined the Red Sox in 2009 as a professional scout after 13 years on the coaching and scouting staff of the Seattle Mariners.

Reliever Joe Nelson shows off his "Vulcan" changeup grip.

A baseball source has confirmed that the Red Sox have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Joe Nelson. The deal was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com (via Twitter).

The move is a low-risk one with some potential payoff for the Red Sox, given that Nelson is two years removed from a season when his numbers were among the best of any National League reliever.

The Sox were looking to add more bullpen arms into a back-end competition that currently includes right-handers Scott Atchinson, Boof Bonser, Ramon A. Ramirez and Robert Manuel and left-handers Dustin Richardson, Brian Shouse and Fabio Castro. Because most of the Sox bullpen is settled (with Jonathan Papelbon at the end, and Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez all but certain to take key set-up roles), it seemed they would likely have a difficult time selling their opportunity to an established reliever.

“We can always add depth and create competition in spots. There is already some competition. With the  numbers in the ‘pen, we have to whittle it down,” GM Theo Epstein said on Friday. “We’re always on the lookout for more additions if they make sense. We don’t necessarily have great opportunities to sell at this point with certain aspects of our club, but if somebody is prepared for some competition maybe we could be the right landing spot for some guys on a minor-league deal.”

Apparently, Nelson proved open to just such an opportunity.

Nelson, 35, was 3-0 with a 4.02 ERA for the Tampa Bay Rays last year, striking out 36 in 40.1 innings. He suffered command difficulties, however, as he walked 27 batters. That — and his $1.9 million deal in 2009 — came on the heels of a career-best 2008 season, when he had a 2.00 ERA and struck out 60 in 54 innings for the Florida Marlins.

Nelson was previously in the Red Sox system in both 2002 and 2004. Though most of his first stint in the organization was lost to injury, when healthy in 2004, he recorded a 2.96 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 51.2 combined innings in Double A and Triple A, and he appeared in three games (allowing five runs in 2.2 innings) in the majors.

His signature pitch is “The Vulcan,” a changeup that he throws with a grip reminiscent of the greeting offered by Star Trek’s Dr. Spock.