Red Sox Notes: Starters ready to take their turns

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- After holding back his starting rotation in the first few weeks of Grapefruit League play in recognition of their workload late in last October, Alex Cora is set to have his pitchers all take a turn in actual games by the middle of next week.

Rick Porcello, who threw live batting practice back in Fort Myers Tuesday, will start Sunday, followed by Chris Sale Monday, David Price next Tuesday and Nathan Eovaldi next Wednesday. Sale will actually pitch in either a minor league game or a controlled scrimmage because the Sox are off on Monday.

Eduardo Rodriguez, who didn't pitch nearly as much as his rotation mates last October, has already made two Grapefruit League starts and will make a third Saturday.

Cora was critical of Rodriguez Monday in Port St. Lucie when Rodriguez needed 35 pitches to get six outs against the Mets, faulting him for his lack of aggressiveness on the mound.



"We want him to go deeper into games,'' said Cora. "He's been in the league a long, long time -- it's time for him to step up.''

Speaking with reporters in Fort Myers Monday, Rodriguez didn't necessarily disagree.

"We're on the same page,'' Rodriguez said. "We need to attack the hitters. That's the point to be a starter. When your team gets four runs, you need to get three quick outs and get back to the dugout. I like that (Cora) is honest. That makes me work harder to make everybody happy. I like it because I know he worries about me and I like that.

"Last year, there were too many (starts in which I only went) 5.1 innings. This year, I want to go out and go seven innings almost every time I go out there.''

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J.D. Martinez, who didn't get into a game until last weekend, had the unpleasant task of facing Nationals ace Max Scherzer Tuesday.

But although he felt overmatched, Martinez liked the challenge.

"I like it. I always want to face premier guys right away,'' said Martinez as the Red Sox posted an 8-4 victory. "You face those aces right away, to me, it gets you lined up quicker. Those guys are tough whether you're locked in or not, but it's a good measuring stick when you face guys after them.''

Martinez has always been a slow starter in the spring and doesn't obsess over March results.

"I say it all the time, but I'm not a good spring training hitter,'' he said. "I don't know why. It's just that way for me. It takes a while for me to get it right. Once I start slowing the ball down, then something clicks and it's like, 'OK, wait...I've got something here.' There are some spring trainings when I've gone off and I start hitting homers and other ones, I don't.  I don't look too far into it, really.

"You want to work on what you want to work on. Every day you get to work on something and get something done. You don't want to stress out because you're not getting a hit. You can worry about the process more than the results.''

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The Sox seem set to have Dustin Pedroia make his game debut Thursday against Minnesota. There had been a thought that he would be better playing Friday in Sarasota, but the Sox won't have their full medical and training staff on hand for a road game, so Thursday it is.

"We'll take it step by step,'' said Cora. "Just like every other player, we'll get information and we'll go from there. But from everything we've been gathering, Thursday or Friday is a good start. It's not going to be too much - it's your first game in spring training, so we'll start with that.''

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Brian Johnson, who had been battling a bug, was set to try to throw a bullpen back in Fort Myers...Outfielder Bryce Brentz, who was scratched from Monday's lineup when he became ill, is expected to miss a couple of days and the unfortunate trend continued Tuesday when Sam Travis was scratched from the lineup because of the bug....Infielder Tony Renda strained an oblique and was sent back to be examined in Fort Myers.