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PHILADELPHIA -- As a rule, catchers are probably the most like hockey players. Stitch 'em up and put 'em back in the lineup.

That was the case Saturday for Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who needed a dozen stitches to close a cut at the bottom and back of his left ear but was back in the lineup Saturday night to catch pitcher Jon Lester.

Not only did he play, but Saltalamacchia homered, doubled and singled, scoring twice, while catching nine innings in Boston's 7-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

After the game, manager Bobby Valentine pulled out his cellphone.

"[Friday] night this is what Salty sent to me," Valentine said. "'Hey, Bobby, this is Salty. Everything came back good, had some stitches. The doctor cleared me to play. I'm good for tomorrow, plus I'm good to hit a bomb.'"

Calling your shot by cellphone may not become the stuff of legend like the Babe pointing in Wrigley Field, but hey, if it works, go with it. Saltalamacchia hit his sixth of the season in the fourth, going back-to-back with rookie Will Middlebrooks.

Which leads to the funky stat of the night: The Saltalamacchia/Middlebrooks combination now holds the distinction of longest combined last names (26 letters) to homer in a single game.

"That’s how I got to sleep last night," Valentine said of Saltalamacchia's reassuring note. "It's a tough roster playing in a National League park. Tough enough roster as it is."

Valentine already was going into the game short-handed with outfielder Cody Ross unavailable after fouling a ball off his left foot.

Saltalamacchia was injured Friday night in a freak play, when a pitch from Daniel Bard struck Ty Wigginton in the arm, caromed off Saltalamacchia’s arm, and struck him in the ear, an area that is not protected by his catcher’s mask.

"Weird, real strange," Saltalamacchia said of the play, which took place in the fifth inning Friday night. "The chances of it happening again are slim.

"I’m sore. I had stitches, but the doctors, everybody cleared me. They did a CT, all the concussion tests, I’m good."

Other injury updates:

Kevin Youkilis went 1-for-4 in Pawtucket Saturday while playing third base. He is expected to take Sunday off. A source said that Youkilis will rejoin the Red Sox Monday in Baltimore, though Valentine has not committed to that timetable publicly and said Saturday it would be useful for Youkilis to play nine innings in a game before returning.

Pitcher Aaron Cook was scheduled to throw a bullpen Saturday and have the stitches removed from his left knee. The next step for Cook will be a rehabilitation assignment.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back strain) will rejoin the club at some point during this current road trip, but manager Bobby Valentine said it all depends on when the rehabbing third baseman is ready.

"It’s on him when he’s ready," Valentine said.

Youkilis began his minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday in Durham, N.C., and went 1-for-2, including a double, a walk and a run scored as the PawSox’s designated hitter.

"He hit a 94 mph fastball and was real aggressive at the plate,” Valentine said. “He got in all of his work. He battled a walk and it sounds like he had a good night.”

Youkilis had Thursday off and is scheduled to start at third base for Pawtucket on Friday.

The Red Sox kicked off an eight-game, eight-day road trip Wednesday at Tampa. They'll be in Philadelphia on Friday for a weekend series with the Phillies, before heading to Baltimore, where the trip concludes next Wednesday.

BOSTON -- Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis (back strain) will begin a minor league rehab stint with the Pawtucket Red Sox on Wednesday at Durham, N.C.

He will serve as the PawSox’s designated hitter and get three at-bats. He will then play the field on Thursday for Pawtucket before a final decision is made whether he’ll rejoin the Red Sox in Philadelphia on Friday.

Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 2 (retroactive to April 29) and was eligible to be activated on Monday.

On Sunday, Youkilis began taking ground balls and was able to swing the bat and he’s been able to continue that routine for the last three days.

“He looked really good taking his ground balls,” said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. “He was moving around today with a bounce in his step. He’ll start tomorrow and get him enough, whatever it’s going to take to have him say that he feels good.”

Since Youkilis has been sidelined, rookie third baseman Will Middlebrooks was called up from Pawtucket and has hit .304 with four homers and 13 RBI in 11 games for the Red Sox.

BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz was removed from Friday's game in the seventh inning due to soreness in his left heel, but he's back in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cleveland Indians.

He received treatment in the afternoon and was able to take BP. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine spoke with Ortiz and it was determined the DH would be ready to go.

"Ortiz is in the lineup and when I talked to him he said he's probably not going to be stealing a lot of bases tonight but he's OK to go," Valentine said. "We have an understanding if he feels anything, like maybe he should not swinging, even if it's in the middle of an at-bat, he'll let us know. He says he OK to go and the training room thinks he's OK to go."

Ortiz is hitting .352 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in the first 33 games of the season.

NOTES

• With interleague play quickly approaching, Valentine said he's still thinking about the best way to handle not having a designated hitter when the team plays a three-game set against the Phillies next week in Philadelphia. It's a tough call to remove Ortiz's bat from the lineup at this point. Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has said he'd be OK with playing the outfield in order to have Ortiz play first.

"We'll see as it goes," Valentine said.

That led to Valentine being asked about his thoughts on the DH.

"In general, though, when you have a good one it's a really good way to make out a lineup, and we have a really good one," Valentine said.

As far as the way the interleague rules are concerned, Valentine would like to see the DH rule switched up a little bit.

"The only way I thought there should be an adjustment is to flip-flop it and have the DH in the National League city and have the pitcher hit in the American League city -- just for the fans," Valentine said. "So the fans in the different cities can see the different play, but I don't know how you really adjust it."

• Speaking of interleague play, Red Sox pitchers hitting have been hitting in the cage of late but some of them took swings on the field during early batting practice Saturday afternoon at Fenway.

"From what I gather, we have some guys who, not only like to swing, but can swing," Valentine said. "There's nothing wrong with getting a hit if they go up there."

• Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis continues to rehab a lower-back strain. He played catch for the first time on Friday since going on the 15-day DL and he extended his game of catch again on Saturday. He said afterward that he's feeling better. He's eligible to come off the DL on Monday but that could be a long shot at this point. There has not been a conversation, yet, whether or not he'll need to make a minor league rehab stint before returning to the lineup.

"I think that'll be up to Youk," Valentine said.

BOSTON -- One of the first signs of activity at Fenway Park on Friday was a rather ordinary sight. It was Kevin Youkilis playing catch at around 3 p.m. in shallow right field. Given the situation Youkilis is in, however, that qualifies as something notable. Not jaw-dropping, but notable.

The brief game of catch, during which Youkilis twisted and turned in order to limber up his back, was the first dose of baseball activity that the veteran third baseman has had since going on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain.

The next step may involve picking up a bat. When that occurs remains to be seen.

"Seemed like he could swing but they're delaying him," said manager Bobby Valentine.

Youkilis is eligible to return Monday. That appears to be a stretch at this point in time.

In other clubhouse news:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka is still on schedule to make his fourth rehab start Saturday in Pawtucket. It will be his second start at the Triple-A level. He threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings for the PawSox on Monday and is almost major league-ready.

"I would say he's very close," Valentine said. "He's done everything except string the innings together. He's worked on all of his pitches. He's happy with his pitches, he's happy with his velocity, his strength, his ability to field, pitch out of the stretch, the windup. If there's a checklist he's checked off a lot of those things and now it's just stringing innings together."

Barring anything unforeseen or a particularly rocky inning, Matsuzaka will throw about 90 pitches.

• Shortstop Mike Aviles is out of the starting lineup for the first time in over a month. The only game Aviles has missed was April 10 in Toronto.

Valentine said he was going to wait until Sunday to sit Aviles since that will be the halfway point of the team's current stretch of 20 games in 20 days, but he chose not to.

• Marlon Byrd is also out of the starting lineup for the first time since his debut with the Red Sox on April 23. That gives Ryan Sweeney his first start in center field with Boston and allows Valentine to have two left-handed hitters in Sweeney and Daniel Nava against Cleveland righty Ubaldo Jimenez.

"Byrd's been playing an awful lot and I want to see what this alignment looks like now that we have another left-handed hitter here," Valentine said.

BOSTON -- Kevin Youkilis was watching when rookie Will Middlebrooks homered twice in the same game in Kansas City, hitting home runs down both foul lines.

“They should have put a foul pole in center field so he could hit one off that, too,’’ Youkilis said. “Pretty amazing to watch. Great for him to come up here at this stage and perform at a high level.’’

Youkilis also is not oblivious to the discussions of how the emergence of Middlebrooks could impact him.

“I’m not blind,’’ he said. “Things like that are part of the game. Things happen, things get written.’’

His perception of what Middlebrooks might mean for his own immediate future?

“I have no idea,’’ he said Thursday afternoon in the Red Sox clubhouse. “I’m here to play baseball, to play for the Red Sox. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this game is you can’t predict the future and you don’t know what’s going to happen. All you can do is worry about now, which for me is getting healthy and playing, and I’m a Boston Red Sox until they tell me otherwise.’’

Youkilis remains on the disabled list with a strained back muscle, and is eligible to come off the DL on Monday. That is unlikely to happen, though, since he has not yet resumed baseball activity. Manager Bobby Valentine said he is scheduled to begin playing catch in the next day or two.

Youkilis insists he feels fine. “You know me,’’ he said. “I think I can play now. But they have a program, and they’re going to stick with it.’’

He was amused when told that Valentine had said in Kansas City that he had been placed on a walking program.

“Walking program?’’ he said. “Oh yeah, I was walking. I wasn’t paralyzed. I was very fortunate to be walking. I’m doing the physical therapy, and all the evaluations were real good.’’

Later, he elaborated on what his “walking program” was.

“It was ‘go to the mall, get out, move around,’’’ he said. “It got blown out of proportion. It was like, ‘Don’t lay around all day, don’t sit, go out for a walk.’’’

So what happens with Middlebrooks when Youkilis is activated? Thursday, Valentine made it clear that playing Middlebrooks in the outfield was not an option. Youkilis has played in the outfield a total of 22 games, including left field on an emergency basis in Yankee Stadium, when Terry Francona needed a body.

“I don’t think they want me back out there,’’ Youkilis said. “I don’t think I’d help the cause out in the outfield. I’d have to hit about 75 home runs.’’
Youkilis agreed that any team interested in trading for him would have to see him play first. As to the possibility of being traded?

“My goal is playing here,’’ he said. “I love playing here. But if something happens and I have to go somewhere else, I’ll go somewhere else. I don’t control it. I can’t control it. The only thing I can control is going out there.

“Wherever they put me in, I’ll play. I’ve always been that way. I made the move from first to third. I raised my hand and played left. That’s the type of person I am when it comes to baseball, and the type of person I will be.

“I get paid a lot of money to do a job that’s a great job. For me to complain about this or that, I can’t do that. I just control what I can control, which is playing the game and loving it as much as I can.’’

BOSTON -- Another day, another roster shuffle for the scrambling Boston Red Sox.

Aaron Cook, who needed 11 stitches to sew up a cut sustained on his left knee in a play at home plate Saturday, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday morning. Andrew Miller was activated off the DL and will serve as one of three left-handers in the Boston bullpen.

Cook took the start of the sidelined Josh Beckett in his Red Sox debut and was a candidate to make more starts as the club plows through a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. Alas, there was no way he would be ready to throw again in five or six days.

Manager Bobby Valentine said that there could be issues of infection if the stitches popped free while pitching. Also, Cook has had shoulder issues in the past. There is no reason to push the issue with him and perhaps wind up with a more serious injury, Valentine said. That explanation is a bit curious given the fact that Cook returned to Saturday’s game after cutting open his knee and proceeded to give up six additional runs before being pulled with two outs in the third.

There was one other big reason for the move to Miller on Sunday.

“We need help in the bullpen,” said Valentine, who has had his relievers throw 13 1/3 innings in the last couple of days.

Enter Miller, who was rehabbing from a strained left hamstring suffered in spring training. Miller made 10 relief appearances for Pawtucket. Depending on which number you look at, he was either awesome or poor -- Miller had a 5.73 ERA and walked an alarming 14 men in 11 innings for the PawSox, but he struck out an equally alarming 23 batters and yielded only four hits.

The 26-year-old feels that the control problems were notable early on in the rehab stint and that he is beyond that. He walked five and gave up only two hits in the last 6 2/3 innings for Pawtucket.

“I pitched twice in Toledo, once two innings, once one inning, and both of them went great,” he said, referring to his most recent outings. “Those are fresh. Those are recent. I hope to carry that along.
“I had two outings that didn’t look good statistically in the middle, and one of them I felt pretty good coming out of. However many appearances I had, looking back, I gave up a two-run homer and I had one outing that I thought was pretty terrible from the get-go, so I’ll take it.”

Miller was 6-3 with a 5.54 ERA in 17 games for Boston last season. Twelve of those appearances came as a starter. That will not be the case this time around.

“I’ve felt good coming out of the bullpen so far. I’m interested to see how it goes for an extended period of time,” he said. “I’ve always been out there as a long guy or gotten inconsistent innings. I’m just looking forward to getting a chance to contribute and help us win some games.”

Miller’s 30-day allotment for rehab was just about to expire, so the move comes at a natural juncture for the club. Valentine said that Miller will be the “first left-hander out of the bullpen,” likely appearing before Rich Hill and Franklin Morales and primarily facing left-handed hitters. Miller held lefties to a .063 average and struck out 13 against just three walks.

In other clubhouse news, Kevin Youkilis has begun a “walking program,” according to Valentine. Youkilis is walking just fine, of course, but he will incorporate structured movements forward and backward and “getting into the pelvic movement that’s needed.”

“He’s progressing. He’ll stay back and not come with us because he doesn’t need the plane ride for his back and he has rehab being done here,” Valentine said.

BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis underwent an MRI on his ailing back, but manager Bobby Valentine said Saturday morning that the results weren't available yet.

Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, retroactive to last Sunday because of a lower back strain. At the time Youkilis said he thought his back was getting better and that the training staff had figured out what was causing his discomfort. He also said he didn't think it was anything that would require an MRI.

But now the third baseman has had an MRI. On Friday Youkilis said he fully expected to be ready to play again when his time on the DL is up, on Monday, May 14.

Valentine didn't have much else to offer in his pregame media session.

He did confirm, though, that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be ready to make his next rehab start on Monday in Pawtucket. Dice-K, who is recovering from last May's elbow ligament replacement surgery, had been hampered by a sore neck for a few days.

Valentine also said that center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (subluxed right shoulder) is progressing in his rehab and that Cody Ross has a tender right knee from fouling a ball off the knee during Friday night's game.

BOSTON -- Kevin Youkilis is considered day to day after missing his second straight game due to back tightness.

Youkilis was removed from the lineup about one hour before the Red Sox opened a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Monday night. Following the game, an 11-6 Boston win, manager Bobby Valentine said that Youkilis felt pain after taking grounders earlier in the day.

Valentine scratched Youkilis off the lineup card Sunday in Chicago after his third baseman felt the pain following a session in the batting cage. The hope is that it is nothing more than a muscular issue that can fixed with simple treatment.

“I just talked to Rick Jameyson, our trainer, after the game here and he seemed to think he could be OK,” Valentine said. “He’s got a little twinge here and there. He’d play if he could, I can guarantee you that. He was trying to. He just took too many ground balls.”

Nick Punto, who played third base in place of Youkilis, was 0-for-3 with a walk and dropped a popup for an error.

Kevin Youkilis, who was a late scratch for Sunday's road trip finale against the White Sox at Chicago with a stiff lower back, told reporters after the game that he could have pinch hit in the 4-1 loss and thinks he'll be ready to play Monday at Fenway Park against the A's.

"I was just really tight today and it locked up and they decided to scratch me and use me later on in the game if they were going to use me," Youkilis said, according to WEEI.com. "As far as I was concerned, I was ready."

"It's probably just three days in the freezing cold," he said. "I don't know, I felt good. I felt good all week. I just woke up and it was tight.

"I should be good. Get some rest, at home, in the bed," Youkilis said. "It should be fine."

Kevin Youkilis was a late scratch from the Red Sox lineup, with Nick Punto replacing him at third base. Youkilis had tightness in his lower back.

Here's the revised lineup:

Mike Aviles, SS
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Cody Ross, LF
Nick Punto, 3b
Marlon Byrd, CF
Kelly Shoppach, C

Josh Beckett, RHP

BOSTON -- Offensively, the Boston Red Sox have been a Jekyll-and-Hyde team so far during the homestand.

Over the first three games, Boston raked the vaunted Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff for 31 runs. Not surprisingly, the Red Sox won all three of those games.

Over the past three games, Boston has managed a mere six runs, and was shut out once. Again, not surprisingly, the Red Sox lost all three of those games.

In losing Wednesday night, 6-3, to the Texas Rangers, Boston was only 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Sox were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position overall in the three defeats.

Until Ryan Sweeney’s pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning Tuesday night, all of Boston’s runs during the losing streak had come on home runs. Dustin Pedroia rocketed a two-run homer and Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo shot in Tuesday night’s 18-3 loss and Kevin Youkilis connected for a two-run bomb Wednesday night.

“That’s just baseball,” said Youkilis. “There’s no formula for it. We haven’t put it all together right now. They’ve had good pitching, too.”

“We have to find a way to be more consistent,” said outfielder Cody Ross. “That’s baseball. You go through stretches when you’re scoring like we did against the Rays and you go through stretches like we did the last couple of days.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Takeaways from the Fort, where the green-clad Sox beat the Orioles, 7-4, in a split squad here while tying another batch of O's, 3-3, in 10 innings in Sarasota:

The Red Sox released pitcher Carlos Silva, who was coming off shoulder surgery and was shut down with shoulder inflammation this spring, taking him out of the competition for a starting spot here. GM Ben Cherington said the team elected to give Silva a chance to catch on with another club.

Cody Ross had a double and a home run, his first since hitting two in the college games, and Lars Anderson had a double and two-run single for the Sox in the Fort. Ross is hitting .450 this spring, Anderson .429.

Aaron Cook made his second spring appearance, giving up a hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles in Sarasota.

"It's what I was looking for," Cook said upon his return to the Fort. "Groundball outs, and short innings. Four fly ball outs, one strikeout, rest were ground balls."

Cook has been hurt each of the last two seasons -- a broken leg in 2010, and a broken finger and an inflamed shoulder last season -- and was placed on a slower progression than the other pitchers in camp this spring. That's not a concern, he said.

"I don't worry about it," he said. "I threw three and a third today, they keep putting up innings and I'll just go out there and keep pitching. There are no issues."

Cook has a May 1 opt-out of his contract. "I want to start,'' said Cook, who pitched 10 seasons for the Rockies, winning a career-high 16 games in 2008, before signing a minor-league deal with the Red Sox. But if asked to go to the pen would he do so? "Definitely,'' he said.

Josh Beckett had an easy time of it Saturday, pitching against an Orioles team that had just one regular position player, Chris Davis (possibly two if you project Wilson Betemit as the team's DH). Beckett worked five innings in which he threw 59 pitches, an impressive 40 for strikes. Beckett gave up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out two. The game was completed in a snappy 2 hours 37 minutes, which should give you a sense of the pace at which he worked, and the results he achieved.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox pitchers Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard made very different statements with their performances during Boston’s 9-6 loss to St. Louis at JetBlue Park on Thursday.

Aceves and Bard are two of Boston’s hurlers that are competing for the fourth and fifth spots in the starting rotation. Aceves’ statement was a positive one as he allowed one run in four innings and struck out four batters. Bard’s statement was quite the contrary, as he allowed seven runs 2 2/3 innings while walking four batters.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said before Thursday’s loss that does not plan on making any immediate decisions on who will make the starting rotation.

“What I’m trying to do now is formulate the guys who are going to be in the bullpen in my mind,” Valentine said. “Then (I will) pick the guys who will be starting the game.”

Aceves allowed all three of his hits in the first two innings before setting down the final six batters he faced in a row. His ERA sits at 1.00 in nine innings pitched this spring.

“The rhythm of the game was a priority for me personally,” Aceves said when asked about Thursday’s outing. “So far, so good (this spring). I think everything is good.”

Bard struggled to find the strike zone at times as he recorded a blown save and took the loss in Thursday’s game. His ERA ballooned to 8.22 in 7 2/3 innings pitched.

“Physically, I could throw more pitches,” Bard said. “Obviously (I) just wasn't in the (strike) zone, wasn't throwing strike one. (I) just need to be a little more aggressive early in the count.”

Youk Up First: Third baseman Kevin Youkilis celebrated his 33rd birthday on Thursday by hitting leadoff for the Red Sox. He was 0-for-2 with a walk.

While Valentine said he would “probably not” bat Youkilis in the leadoff position during the regular season, Valentine does have a history of batting nontraditional players first in the order.

In the early 1990s while managing the Texas Rangers, Valentine batted 40-year-old Brian Downing in the leadoff position. Downing had just 50 stolen bases in his 20-year major league career but carried a high on-base percentage, something Valentine looks for in a leadoff hitter.

“(Batting Youkilis in the leadoff position) was more on the idea of getting him a couple quick at-bats because he is going to have a lot of games,” Valentine said. “Youk is a very productive hitter. ... Our lack of other right-handed hitters would (stop me from hitting Youkilis leadoff) right now. But maybe we have other right-handed hitters.”

Youkilis insinuated that he would prefer to hit further down in the batting order.

“We haven’t talked about it but I don’t think I’m going to be hitting leadoff,” Youkilis said. “I don’t think I’m a leadoff hitter. ... I think I can do a lot better down in the order for this team.”

McDonald On Fire: Darnell McDonald admitted after leaving Thursday’s game that he is having the best spring of his career at the plate. McDonald blasted a two-run home run to left field in the fourth inning after narrowly missing a home run in the third inning and instead settling for a double. McDonald leads the team with seven extra-base hits this spring.

“I’m just trying to make the best out of my opportunities out there,” McDonald said. “I started hitting a little earlier than I would normally start (in the offseason). I was really trying to build off the end of last year.”

When all players are healthy, Boston has a fairly crowded outfield. But with Carl Crawford (recovering from wrist surgery) and Ryan Sweeney (left quad strain) both recovering from injuries, McDonald’s role is expanded right now.

“This is nothing new,” McDonald said of competing for a spot in the outfield. “It’s been going well this spring. I want to keep it going.”

Ciriaco Strikes Again: Non-roster invitee Pedro Ciriaco continued his hot streak on Thursday. After hitting a walkoff home run on Monday night and scoring the game-winning run on Tuesday night, Ciriaco ripped a two-run double after the Red Sox had loaded the bases in the sixth inning on Thursday.

The 26-year-old infielder leads the team with a .642 batting average and .642 on-base percentage. He also leads the team in runs and stolen bases and is tied for the team lead in RBI this spring.

“I’m seeing the ball very good,” the native Dominican said. “I feel comfortable right now. I worked very hard in the offseason.”

Ciriaco has hit safely in eight of the 10 games he has played in this spring. He still seems to be a long shot to make the big league club, but he's making the Sox feel good about signing him to a minor league deal on Jan. 3.

Left-Handed Relief Quandry: Left-handed pitcher Rich Hill, who appeared in nine games last season for Boston before undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery in June, threw his first live batting practice on Thursday morning. He threw 20 pitches to hitters and tossed 20 warm-up pitches.

Hill is one of just five Red Sox lefties on the major league roster not slated to be in the starting rotation.

Franklin Morales, who appeared in 36 games for Boston in 2011, is also making his way back into shape after having to return to Boston earlier in the spring for follow-up testing following a physical.

Despite both lefties progressing, Valentine is not rushing to make any decisions about left-handers in the bullpen.

“I need to have people that I’m comfortable getting left-handers out in the bullpen,” Valentine said. “To think that you have to establish that now, (that’s) not part of the plan. Eventually a team wants to have a comfort with all those roles. Defining the roles in this camp on March 15 is premature.”

Left-hander Justin Thomas, a non-roster invitee, worked around two infield singles in a scoreless fifth inning on Thursday.

At Odds With The Schedule Maker: Things will get tricky for the Red Sox in the next couple days thanks to a somewhat odd schedule. Boston will play Minnesota on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and then will be forced to play two split-squad day games on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles.

“It’s cruel and unjust punishment,” Valentine joked. “But we had an off day yesterday so we’ll be ready.”

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While the Boston Red Sox were in the midst of a historic collapse last September, veteran third baseman Kevin Youkilis could only sit back and watch the horrific implosion.

Youkilis was bothered by a sports hernia and bursitis in his hip for the majority of the 2011 season. He tried to play through the discomfort and pain but once August rolled around, the team thought it best to shut him down for a couple of weeks. He briefly tried to come back in September, struggled mightily and eventually needed season-ending surgery to repair the hernia, having played just 120 games.

He arrived at camp a week early and deems himself healthy and ready for another grueling season.

“Last year was a tough year and I never felt 100 percent," Youkilis said. "It was definitely a grind and trying to get through it, but it’s definitely good to come into spring training feeling good. There are going to be times when you’re sore because you can’t go through a whole baseball season at 100 percent.”

In the final week of the season, while the team was in Baltimore to play the Orioles, Youkilis was on the outside looking in.

“I don’t like sitting back and watching baseball. I like playing baseball and really enjoy the game and competing," he said. "For me, it’s all about getting on base and playing defense and high-fiving each other on the back of the mound when the games are over, so to sit back and see all the losing and seeing guys in the clubhouse so upset and hurt, it was tough to watch. No matter what you say, you can’t do anything. You want to give advice and you put your two cents in here and there, but it hurts more to sit back and see guys pretty upset and beat up mentally from losing.”

Assuming veteran catcher Jason Varitek doesn't return, Youkilis and David Ortiz will be the only players remaining from the 2004 World Series team. Youkilis is in the last year of a four-year, $41.1 million contract, but the Red Sox have a club option for 2013.

“I already hit the jackpot in monetary terms," he said. "The way I look at life, I don’t live a different kind of lifestyle where I’m flashy and all of that. Money is not why I play this game. I play this game because I love the game and I love going out there and competing.”

Youkilis says he’s not worried about playing in a contract year, his only concern is winning the World Series.

“My job is to win ballgames and I know if I’m out there starting every day and we win a World Series, there’s a good chance I will come back. That’s my whole goal because I know if we win and we win a World Series, it’s going to be hard for them not to bring me back. I’m going to make it as hard on them as possible not to bring me back.”