Manager gives sign -- that Schilling is healthy

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Terry Francona isn't giving it the cachet of an official announcement, but he said yesterday that Curt Schilling is in line to pitch when the Red Sox open the season against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas, April 3. Hardly a surprise, but further testament that the Sox believe Schilling is healthy.

Francona said he and interim pitching coach Al Nipper already have discussed the matter with general manager Theo Epstein.

''I don't think we're ready to say that, only because things happen -- it never fails," Francona said. ''Rather than announcing it to the world, we communicate with players a little bit, tell them how we feel about it. Until we get in it for a couple of weeks, I don't think it makes a lot of sense."

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but Schilling has yet to draw an Opening Day start for the Sox. In 2004, he deferred to Pedro Martínez, and last season, in the aftermath of ankle surgery, he yielded to David Wells in Yankee Stadium.

He has not pitched an opener, in fact, since 1999 for the Phillies, when he was the winning pitcher in a 7-4 decision over the Braves. He missed the 2000 opener because of shoulder surgery, then ceded the spot the next three seasons in Arizona to Randy Johnson.

In the five openers he has pitched -- the first coming for the Phillies in Colorado in 1994 -- Schilling has not been beaten, with two wins and three no-decisions. He was electrifying in '97 and '98. In Los Angeles in '97, he allowed two hits while striking out 11 in eight scoreless innings against the Dodgers in a 2-0 win, then in '98 threw another eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while whiffing nine, in a 1-0, 14-inning loss to the Mets.

''It's a really neat thing, and then it's over," Schilling said of pitching the Sox opener. ''I mean, it's like anything else -- starting Game 1 of the playoffs or the first game of the second half. It's cool. It's a big deal and then it's over.

''But with the way this staff is set up, I don't know if it's as meaningful as in the past because there are a couple of No. 1s in this rotation. And by the end of year, hopefully that will bear itself out."

The other obvious No. 1, of course, is Josh Beckett, who pitched the opener the last three years for the Marlins. But Beckett, while saying it would be ''kind of cool" to open here, said he has no problem with the way the rotation is set, noting that Francona already had talked to him about being slotted No. 3, after Schilling and Tim Wakefield.

Yesterday, Schilling faced live hitters for the first time this spring, throwing 63 pitches in 16 minutes against Tony Graffanino, Kevin Youkilis, and Willie Harris. Epstein set up behind the cage, Nipper alongside, while Francona stood nearby, and owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner strolled over for a look.

''It feels good," said Schilling. ''It felt strong. Got my work in, moving forward."

The club has made no announcements, but Ralph Treuel has been told he will serve as Sox bullpen coach. Nipper, who had been bullpen coach, is interim pitching coach in the absence of Dave Wallace, who is likely to miss the entire season. Wallace, beset by infection, had been scheduled to undergo a second hip replacement, but that has been delayed by complications. ''I talked to Wally last night," Francona said. ''He sounded pretty beat up. He wanted to say hello to everybody and let them know he's OK." Treuel, who was Sparky Anderson's pitching coach in Detroit in 1995 and has been a minor league pitching coach and manager for more than 20 years, was to have been Sox pitching coach in 2002, but was dismissed in favor of Tony Cloninger when Grady Little replaced Joe Kerrigan as manager. Cloninger was replaced by Wallace after being diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2004 . . . Last season, when Wells came to camp after arthroscopic knee surgery, he pitched in his first exhibition March 12. It appears highly unlikely that he will come close to that date this season, as he remains unable to place any weight on his knee . . . Trot Nixon wore a ''Kapler 44" jersey during drills . . . Dustan Mohr, who is the leading candidate to platoon with Nixon in right field, was in a hitting group with Nixon and David Ortiz . . . There was a No. 18 in a Sox practice jersey yesterday, but instead of Johnny Damon, it was Christian Lara, the Venezuelan who turns 21 April 11 and is considered the team's top shortstop prospect. Lara was among a group of minor leaguers taking part in a minicamp.