There'll be a family reunion after all

J.D. Drew will get a chance to see his brother Stephen when the Sox visit Arizona in June. (JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- If J.D. Drew were still playing right field for the Dodgers, still patrolling the outfields of the National League West, there would have been chances for him to grab a bite to eat with his younger brother, Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew, after a game. But with his flight to the American League East, J.D. wasn't sure he'd get to have the family connection this season.

Until he looked at the schedule. With the Red Sox facing the NL West in interleague play (plus "natural rival" Atlanta), Arizona and Boston will meet in Phoenix June 8-10, which should give J.D. a chance to see his brother.

"That was one of the disappointing things when I ended up being on the free agent market and was thinking I wasn't going to get a chance to see my brother play anymore, but I looked at the schedule when I signed on over here and I found out when we were playing them," Drew said yesterday. "So, yeah, I'm excited about it. He has a bright future ahead of him, one of those kids that's going to be fun to watch for a while."

Meanwhile, for those expecting Drew to hit well immediately with the Red Sox -- given that balls hit to left field in Fenway Park could morph from outs to doubles -- there is precedent that indicates he might not acclimate quite so fast.

The last time Drew moved to a new team, the Dodgers in 2005, he started the season 0 for 25 before finally singling in his sixth game. He did manage, however, to score three runs before picking up his first hit.

But Drew said where he's hitting in the lineup shouldn't be a problem, even though he has rarely batted No. 5 in the order. He's more likely to forget that the No. 9 hitter in the AL isn't a pitcher and shade too far in defensively. During his career, Drew has 148 at-bats hitting first, 710 hitting second, 1,169 hitting third, 416 hitting fourth, 203 hitting both fifth and sixth, and 217 hitting seventh.

"The 3- or 5-hole, I don't think that affects me," Drew said. "I've been all around the lineup. I think [the media] looks at the numbers in certain holes more than the player does."

Though he has declined to talk to reporters so far this spring, Matt Clement is apparently making progress from his late September surgery to repair damage to the labrum and rotator cuff of his pitching shoulder. He has yet to start throwing.

"He's on actually a very strenuous program," manager Terry Francona said. "He's in the very highest percentile of how he's doing according to other pitchers. A throwing program will start while we're down here in spring training. I don't have that exact date. It's still not etched in stone just because it goes on whether you talk about milestones or barometers -- he has to gain certain strength, certain mobility, and then he will move on."

After Francona, general manager Theo Epstein, and pitching coach John Farrell met with the pitchers in groups of three recently, Francona and Epstein spent time with each position player yesterday to discuss how to get the most out of each . . . David Ortiz joked that Coco Crisp's new hairdo made him look bigger. Ortiz's name for the style? "Afro-puff." . . . With recent talk of a potential Curt Schilling run for elected office, Ortiz made it known he wasn't going to be staging a campaign for anything other than MVP, despite shortstop Julio Lugo's contention that his friend is like a god in their native Dominican Republic. "I would never be a politician," Ortiz said. "A lot of people love you as a person, [and] when you begin to be a politician, that love turns to hate."