FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When Nathan Eovaldi arrived at camp earlier this month, he admitted he had his doubts.
Ordinarily, spring training lasts nearly seven weeks -- time enough for starting pitchers to gradually build arm strength and ready themselves for the start of the regular season.
But with the lockout wiping out all of February, players weren't in camp until the first week of March, making everything condensed. Would half the time -- three and a half weeks vs. seven -- be enough to be ready?
In Eovaldi's case, at least, the answer was: yes.
Eovaldi, who will start the season opener Thursday in New York, made his final Grapefruit League start Saturday. In a 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh. Eovaldi allowed five runs over 5.2 innings, with four of the five runs off him coming in the sixth, his final inning of work. For the first five innings of work, the lone run against him was a solo homer by former teammate Michael Chavis.
Beyond the results, however, he feels physically prepared for the start of the season.
"Fortunately, I was able to get a lot (work) done when we were back home and I came into spring training ready to go,'' Eovaldi said. "So I feel like I was able to get everything I needed to get out of spring training. I was a little bit (concerned at the start of camp), with how short it's been and how fast you have to ramp up, the innings you have to build and the amount of recovery time that you don't have.
"But like I said, I was able to get my work in back home, throwing to (Connor) Wong. Throwing to him, getting the feedback, then you get here and get the treatment that you need and get the feedback from (pitching coach Dave Bush). You had a good idea of what you needed to do coming in and everybody's locked in, ready to go.''
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Eovaldi is getting the Opening Day assignment because Chris Sale isn't available, having suffered a stress fracture of the right rib cage in late February. Sale underwent an MRI recently, which showed healing in progress, but the Sox are being very cautious with his rehab and he hasn't been given the go-ahead to begin even light throwing yet.
"There's nothing going on with the muscle, it's just the bone, which is a good thing,'' reported Sale. "But you have to make sure that the muscles don't do something before the bone is ready to handle it, because they're attached. We're just dotting the I's and crossing the T's, making sure we're exactly where we need to be, not around where we need to be and do this thing the right way.
"The way I feel right now, I feel like I could go, today, in the field. But there's a difference between going out and throwing and being alright and going out and throwing and feeling great. And I think that's along the lines of where they want me to be before I start doing this.''
Sale envisions having his own personal spring training -- ''days of throwing, getting stretched out, bullpens, up-and-downs, live BP, sim games, rehab (starts) and then we go. I've had some time off, but I don't think my starting point is going to be (ground) zero. I put in a lot of work and I've been doing a lot of work the last couple of weeks and I feel I'm coming back pretty quick. So it shouldn't be so long.''
Sale and the team haven't discussed whether he'll remain here or be with the major league team when the season starts.
"I'm assuming that, at some point, I'm going to be up (in Boston),'' said Sale. "They're going to want to see me throw and (the training staff) is going to want to get their hands on me and see how this thing is doing. I really don't know. For right now, I'm just showing up, doing what I need to do and pulling days off the calendar.''
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The Sox made a number of cuts after the game.
They optioned Eduard Bazardo and Darwinzon Hernandez to Triple-A Worcester. They also re-assigned RHP Kaleb Ort, lefty Derek Holland, Christin Stewart and infielder Yolmer Sanchez.
That leaves them with 36 players in camp, eight over the Opening Day roster number of 28.
Among those waiting to hear their fate: infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder and first baseman Travis Shaw.
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Jackie Bradley Jr. had a noteworthy day. In the field, he leaped over the bullpen wall in right in a vain attempt to snag a two-run homer by Diego Castillo. Later, in the seventh, he hit his second homer of the spring over the bullpen in right field. ... Alex Cora is plainly concerned with the dip in velocity he's seeing from Matt Barnes, who is sitting around 92-93 mph, some three miles per hour slower than usual.