Back is front and center

Drew still dealing with occasional discomfort

FORT MYERS, Fla. - When J.D. Drew last took the field for the Red Sox, in the postseason in 2008, it seemed he had put his struggles with back stiffness behind him. After having played just twice since Aug. 17, Drew became a hero in the playoffs for the second straight year. But, once the season was over, Drew went right back to dealing with that stiffness. And he still is.

"Just been one of them injuries that have kind of lingered and I've been able to hit and run and do all that stuff," Drew said. "Some days I wake up [and the back is an issue], some days it doesn't seem to be too bad. Just in the maintenance stages.

"Everything's well enough to perform and play as far as that goes. Just try to isolate it and keep it from flaring up too bad."

The problem remains the herniated disk he suffered last season, which kept him out for a large chunk down the stretch.

The plan now is to try to keep the back from becoming inflamed. Drew added that the back doesn't seem bad enough for a procedure at this point, though he might have to deal with that eventually.

He had an MRI in the offseason that didn't reveal anything he didn't already know.

"I'm not concerned that I won't be at full capacity to play," Drew said. "If we had to go out there and play a game today I could do that. It wouldn't be a problem. That being said, I have battled with this the entire offseason, just as far as stiffness goes. Not really mobility as much. You wake up . . . you move around, you do a few things, you sit down for a while, you get stiff."

Drew was able to swing the bat in the offseason, and can do so now. He said he expects to speak with general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona about a game plan for spring training.

But the team isn't all that worried, according to a club source. Strength coach Dave Page was sent to visit Drew about a month ago, performed some tests, and determined that the back should be fine.

If Drew's back should become problematic, it could be cause for concern, given that backup outfielder Rocco Baldelli has health issues of his own.

It's not yet known how much time Baldelli will be able to spend on the field. The fifth outfielder, Mark Kotsay, is coming off back surgery and won't be available until the end of April or early May. The Sox also signed first baseman/outfielder Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal.

David Ortiz arrived yesterday - along with Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Julio Lugo - and looked in better shape than last season. Francona and the club encouraged Ortiz to drop weight and get stronger.

"I think he wanted to get a little bit lighter, but saying that, not weaker," Francona said. "I think losing weight, I don't want to say it's easy to do, but I mean you can do that. He needs to be strong. He needs to have a good lower half. But getting lighter, as you get older and you have an injury or two, that's just part of staying good, and he did a really good job. Really proud of him."

Ortiz spent last season coping with a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, an injury he sustained at 31. He came back at the end of the season but did not perform offensively the way he has in recent seasons. He acknowledged the wrist had episodes of "clicking" after he returned to the field last season. He did not have any procedures in the offseason, with rest prescribed to heal the wrist.

While discussing his offseason strategies to get faster and stronger, Pedroia said he had cut out "garbage" from his diet - including ice cream. But Pedroia didn't seem all that broken up about the changes, after spending the winter in Arizona at Athletes' Performance Institute with Ellsbury. The pair worked out from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day, with speed training in the mornings and weightlifting in the afternoons. "I'm 5-5, 165 pounds," said the 2008 Most Valuable Player. "I definitely have to put in extra time, a bit more than anybody to definitely make up for my size. Definitely try to get my legs stronger so I can play 162 games. I don't have the leverage a lot of guys have, so I've got to make up with the hard work." The thing that seemed to stick with Pedroia in the offseason was the Game 7 loss to the Rays in the ALCS. "One game away from the World Series," Pedroia said. "If that doesn't motivate you, you've got to pick another profession. I think you put that in the back of your mind at the beginning of the offseason. You've got to work harder. We lost by one game. Maybe the Rays outworked us last offseason. I think the biggest thing that I took from it is no one's going to outwork our team this year."

Kotsay is expected to join the team on time. He and Francona texted Saturday, and the manager called him "pretty upbeat." Still, Kotsay will be working with the trainers when he arrives, and he won't participate in on-field activities for a while . . . Asked about Michael Bowden, Francona said the pitcher is "about 10 pounds stronger, which is good." Bowden said he bulked up this offseason from 227 pounds to 231 while doing two stints at Athletes' Performance in Pensacola, Fla.

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