SEATTLE — Dustin Pedroia appears close to making his Red Sox return.
The second baseman will report to Class A Greenville this week and begin a rehab assignment. The Drive open their season at home in South Carolina on Thursday night against the West Virginia Power, a Class A affiliate of the Mariners.
"Right now it's Greenville probably because of the weather," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "I think with him it's more weather-related. They don't cancel games. I think for him whenever he gets here he'll step it up."
Pedroia played eight innings at extended spring training on Sunday and is scheduled to play nine innings on Tuesday. He appeared in just three games last season before pain in his surgically-repaired left knee forced him out of action for the final four months of the regular season.
"He played eight today at 9:30 in the morning, so that's a good sign," Cora said. "We'll see how he bounces back and we'll go from there."
The progression Boston needs to see from Pedroia involves playing back-to-back days. That's the final hurdle before he can be activated off the injured list.
"Let's see the workload," Cora said. "He's swinging the bat well. He's been getting on base a lot. Hopefully he can keep doing that not for his benefit but for our benefit."
Steve Pearce (left calf) also continues to recover in Fort Myers. He's scheduled to play in a game on Monday and is back to running at full speed.
Benny gets a break
Andrew Benintendi was given the day off Sunday, opening the door for J.D. Martinez to make his first start of the season in left field.
Benintendi fouled a ball off his right knee in Saturday night's 6-5 defeat against Seattle. He stayed on the ground in pain for about a minute and was tended to by Red Sox medical staff members before eventually continuing his at-bat.
"It just squared me up," Benintendi said. "I've done that a lot of times. I knew right away it was nothing serious. It just hurt a lot."
Left-handed hitters are generally at risk of such a thing against Mike Leake. The Mariners' right-hander features a cut-fastball that darts inside off the plate, putting extra pressure on hitters to get the barrel of the bat out quickly.
"He was going to play," Cora said. "After what happened yesterday it makes sense. Lefty on the mound anyway (Wade LeBlanc) and we had to find him a day during the week. It worked out perfectly for me to give him an off day."
Pitchers at helm
To say the least, the current Boston clubhouse culture has changed from when Cora was a player in 2005-08.
That merry band of self-proclaimed Idiots featured Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar and a host of other characters. Jason Varitek served as the captain, a position player who played in 498 games over that four-year span.
Pitchers are among the most prominent Red Sox voices now, including Sunday starter Rick Porcello. He serves alongside David Price and Chris Sale on a de facto council Cora employs to keep order.
"He's always paying attention to the game, looking at hitters, looking for details, looking for any advantage we can have to win ballgames," Cora said. "He understands what we're trying to preach and what we're trying to do on a daily basis. He's one of the leaders not only of the pitching staff, but of the whole team."
Playing once every five days has little impact on how effective Porcello and his fellow starters can be in the role. They helped carry Boston to its World Series title last season, pitching out of the bullpen in the playoffs and sacrificing themselves for the group.
"They've got more time than anybody except Pedroia," Cora said. "They're very accountable — very genuine people. That's why I feel like they're the leaders of the club."
Around the bases
Martinez made it four straight games with an RBI on his single to left field in the first. Shea Hillenbrand was the last Red Sox player to open a season with at least one run batted in over his first four games, doing so in 2003. Jose Canseco (1995) and Carl Yastrzemski (1973) are the other most recent Boston players to accomplish the feat…Price makes his season debut on Monday in Oakland. The Red Sox went 22-8 in his starts last season and won 19 of the last 23…Boston relief pitchers entered Sunday on a scoreless string covering 8 2/3 innings. The bullpen had retired 21 of its last 24 batters faced.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
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