Rehabbing Schilling hopes to catch a break

Veteran still aims to pitch in 2008

There hasn't been much in the way of news about Curt Schilling's progress this season. The righthander isn't often seen in the clubhouse, and when he is, he almost never stops to talk. But yesterday he held court, indicating there might soon be a next step in his rehab from shoulder problems.

Estimating he might play catch in seven to 10 days counts as news these days for Schilling, who still hopes to pitch this season.

"I never thought otherwise," Schilling said. "If I didn't believe absolutely that I'd have a ball in a World Series game, I wouldn't be doing this. There's a lot of things that have to happen between now and then. There's an assumption, I think, for some people that don't really think about this - which most people probably don't - this is not just about me getting healthy and coming back. I have to be good. I'm not just going to get the ball because I'm a starting pitcher. I'm going to have to be good. Last I looked this rotation didn't have a hole in it."

Schilling will be reassessed over the weekend, with the training staff looking to make sure he can take the next step. But, ultimately, there is no timetable. Or at least none he was willing to share.

"There's no pain, no stamina issues, no strength loss, no lingering effects, which is a huge plus," Schilling said. "I don't expect to, but there's a chance I'll go out and throw next week and just feel miserable and it'll all be for naught. But I don't envision with the amount of work that we've done and the things that we're doing, I don't envision that I'm going to come back and start throwing and I'm going to be out."

It has made for an "odd, very uncomfortable" season, Schilling said.

"It's been a long time," said manager Terry Francona. "I think there's drudgery that's probably crept in. It's the same every day. And what I know he wants to do is throw.

"They've been getting after it for a while now, so the results are starting to show again where he'll be able to pick up a ball. That's good. That means things are getting better."

Healing powers

Though Francona made sure to say he wasn't criticizing Jacoby Ellsbury for how he has dealt with his sore right groin, he did say he talked with his outfielder recently.

"Well, he's a young player, he needs to get out there," Francona said. "It happens to veteran players, too. Sometimes a guy like an Ellsbury, Coco [Crisp] kind of did it yesterday, we can still win when you're not 100 percent. Sometimes you go out and you take an 0-fer for the team and we can still win. I'm not pointing a finger at Ellsbury because I think he's a pretty tough kid. I guess my point is you're not always going to be 100 percent. I don't know that we can wait for guys always to be 100 percent or we won't ever be able to field a team."

Ellsbury was back in the lineup last night playing center and batting in the leadoff spot after missing three games. He had thought he would be fine after Monday's offday, but was not ready to play in the series against the Blue Jays.

"We take the opportunity to talk to these guys because we have a number of younger guys," Francona said. "We don't want to just assume things. I think he thought all along on the offday he was going to be fine on Tuesday, and he wasn't. It just gives us a chance to talk to him and explain to him that every game we play here is a big deal. That's probably what's different in the minor leagues is that they're very protective, which they're supposed to, and we try to be protective. But at the same time we want guys to understand the responsibility that every game here is a really big deal."

Colon set to pitch

Bartolo Colon, who has been sidelined for nearly a month because of oblique tenderness, is set to pitch Monday in Sarasota, Fla., for the Sox' extended spring training team. Colon will rejoin the major league team next week in Detroit, then head to Pawtucket for a minor league start.

"We see some value in having him come back and letting our guys reevaluate how he feels, then kind of turning him loose and letting him go with the progression of getting his arm strength to a point where he can [pitch] deep enough in a game where he can help us win," Francona said.

Colon will throw two innings in Florida, before increasing that with the PawSox, with the plan that he'll make it up to the major league team in the near future.

Drew ailing

J.D. Drew was back in the original lineup last night, Francona said, but then removed in later versions. Francona said Drew asked for one more day off to recover from tightness in his left quadriceps, though he said he could play if needed . . . Crisp started out by joking that the team had put him on the disabled list (it wasn't true), then moved on to confusing which knee and hamstring were bothering him. Though he finally got it down (it's his left knee and right hamstring), Crisp said his hamstring was troubling him more, though not during games. His knee is what has become more of a problem as games progress. And, as for that single he managed in his second-chance at-bat Thursday night in the ninth inning against the Blue Jays, Crisp said, "It was like a free swing, 'cause I swung. If it lands, it lands. I had five at-bats, one free one. Salvage the day. Five at-bats but it only counted for four."

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.