FORT MYERS, Fla. -- If the rest of spring training is anything like the first official workout day for pitchers and catchers, there’s no doubt Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine will have his team in shape and fundamentally sound by the time camp breaks.

Even Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said he had trouble keeping pace with Bobby V.

“I couldn’t keep up with him. I saw a couple of you (reporters) trying,” the GM said. “I expected spring training, generally, to have a little bit of a different feel to it, a little different flavor. He eats and sleeps and breathes baseball and spends every waking moments trying to think of ways to help players and help the team get better, so it’s not a surprise to see him so active. It’s good to see. We’re getting a lot done in a short amount of time and it’ll be fun to see how his spring training evolves.”

* Crawford pushing hard: For the second consecutive day, Carl Crawford was in the outfield and shagging balls during BP. He had surgery on his left wrist early last month and he’s hoping get clearance very soon to swing a bat.

“He started to work today and he did well with that,” Cherington said. “We’ll take it a day at a time. We’re going to do everything we can to help him get to where he needs to be, but we’ve got to follow his timeline.

"He feels good and his strength is good in both wrists, including the one that was operated on. He seems very excited to be here and to get going. We’re not going to put a timeline on it. We need Carl back when he’s ready and we know what kind of player he’s going to be when he’s ready.”

* Bard the starter: The idea to convert Daniel Bard from a reliever into a starter was a mutual decision between Cherington and the right-hander. It’s still too early in camp to get a true feel for Bard’s transition, but both sides are pleased with the progression.

“He’s going through his reps right now and getting back into his windup,” Cherington said. "It looked like yesterday during his side that it’s starting to get pretty comfortable for him.

"We’ve had a chance to talk to Daniel a lot about this during the offseason and since we’ve been in Fort Myers. He’s attacking this like he would anything, a day at a time with a good focus and knowing he’s going to accomplish something today and tomorrow wake up and accomplish something new. Pretty soon he’ll be in games and his routine and we’ll see how it goes. I know he’s very confident and believes strongly that he’s in the right place.”

* New rules: Valentine said on Monday that he’s already decided what his clubhouse rules will be once the team gets to Fenway Park, but he did not want to disclose those rules because he felt he needed to tell the plays first. He’ll meet with the entire team once everyone is in camp. Cherington said he’s on board with the decisions.

“We’ve had a chance to talk to just about all the players about what happened, and about moving forward,” Cherington said. “Once spring training starts, I think it’s appropriate to let the manager start being the voice for the team and addressing the team. Bobby and I will be talking every day and we’ll have a chance to talk to players individually, but this is an opportunity for Bobby to put his stamp on the team and create his vision for what the team is going to look like, and the dynamic in the clubhouse, and expectations on and off the field. He’s certainly already started to do that.

“He’s increasing the level of accountability in certain areas, but do it in a way that’s respectful to the players and accounts for the fact that we have players in camp who are at very different points in their careers and you can’t treat every player in camp the same. There are some guys who are here to accomplish certain things in spring training and others who are here to do something different. He’s put a spring training schedule together that allows for that, but also increases the level of accountability.”

* Say cheese: Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia spent the morning and part of the early afternoon on the field at JetBlue Park, filming a commercial for Sullivan Tire. He was surrounded by many young baseball players and appeared to be having a blast.

* Ellsbury sighting: Jacoby Ellsbury has arrived at the Sox complex, leaving David Ortiz as the only player not in camp.

* Quote of the day: Cherington is impressed by the early arrivals and the condition of his players. “I feel confident they are going to show all of us that late 2011 is not what the Red Sox are about and they have a chance to define what we’re going to be about moving forward.”