Change from Penny

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The changes in Brad Penny's delivery - "bad habits," he said - started last season. He pitched with pain shooting through his right shoulder, but only with physical concessions. Penny feared raring back like normal, so he shortened his stride and decreased his arm speed.

The motion lessened the pain, but without Penny realizing it, only exacerbated the strain on his shoulder. As part of his recovery, Penny tried to cease the reliance on his arm yesterday during a 35-pitch bullpen session, focusing on throwing with the lower half of his body.

The Red Sox still have no target date for Penny's first start of the spring, and pitching coach John Farrell could not guarantee Penny would be ready to start by Opening Day. But Farrell felt Penny's throwing yesterday, in his health and mechanics, was an encouraging step.

"If there was something structurally wrong," Farrell said, "he wouldn't have been able to do what he did today."

Over the past week, Penny had become a little bit more aggressive throwing on flat ground. Penny will throw live batting practice tomorrow, his largest advance since the Red Sox scratched him from a start last Thursday. Before he throws in an actual game, said Farrell, Penny likely will pitch in an intrasquad game.

Whether he will finish his rehab in time for the start of the regular season remains to be seen. Because Penny figures to be the fifth starter, the club might not need him at the very start of the year. Scheduled off days will allow the Sox to use only four starters for the first week. They just aren't sure if that will be necessary.

"You know, I think it's probably too early to tell that yet," Farrell said. "I think the next five to seven days will have as much bearing on that as anything in his progression, large in part that there's no ill effects from today. We'll certainly get a better read on that when he comes in in the morning, but today and the last three sessions have been very encouraging."

"It's still early," Penny said. "You come in, and you've got to get everything back, get a feel for your delivery. Just being on the mound - you don't step on the mound for a while. That's my eighth, ninth time on the mound."

Last season, Penny went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA after starting on Opening Day for the Dodgers. He pitched only nine innings after June 15 and went on the disabled list three times, all because of shoulder injuries.

Julio Lugo went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBIs yesterday in an 8-2 victory over the Rays, continuing his best spring training since joining the Sox in 2007. Lugo, who is competing with Jed Lowrie for the starting shortstop position, is batting a team-high .533 in Grapefruit League games.

"He's in good shape," manager Terry Francona said. "So is Jed. If that ends up being a dilemma, I'd rather have that happen than guys not playing well."

Lowrie is batting .375 with two doubles and a triple this spring in 16 at-bats.

"Competition makes you better," Lugo said. "The next game that you play, if your competition plays good, you have to play better."

Lugo has made changes the Sox hope will help him recapture the power he showed before his arrival in Boston. He added muscle this offseason and, this spring, he slightly altered his batting stance.

Hitting coach Dave Magadan has been telling Francona he expects to see more power from Lugo this season.

Lugo is "a little more upright in his stance, and he does seem to be a little bit stronger," Francona said. "Haven't witnessed it yet down here. That doesn't mean it isn't going to happen."

Lugo came to the Sox as one of the better power-hitting middle infielders in the league. When he arrived in 2007, he had a .402 career slugging percentage, 16th among major league shortstops and second basemen during the span from 2000 to 2006. In four of the six years in which he played a full season, Lugo hit at least 10 home runs.

That power has disappeared in Boston, where, with his righthanded swing, it was once envisioned he'd put his share of dents in the Green Monster. Lugo has nine home runs in 831 at-bats (one per 92.3) with the Red Sox and a .343 slugging percentage.

Rocco Baldelli returned to the lineup as a designated hitter after not playing since Tuesday because of groin woes. Baldelli went 0 for 3 with a run scored. Baldelli said he could have played earlier had the ailment occurred during the regular season.

Twice, he was tested. In the first inning, he had to race down the line to avoid a double play. Later in the inning, he sped from second base to score on a single and slid safely in.

"Everything felt good," Baldelli said.

Jacoby Ellsbury will not travel with the Red Sox to Bradenton today because the center fielder felt a slight tweak in his hamstring. "Nothing worth worrying about," Francona said . . . The Red Sox received further reassurance that David Ortiz is healthy from the Dominican Republic training staff . . . George Kottaras will catch Tim Wakefield's next start, giving Josh Bard the day off. Kottaras has caught minor league knuckleballer Charlie Zink. "That's the hardest thing," Francona said. "You'll hear people say, 'Well, they've caught [Zink].' But they haven't caught Wake." . . . Justin Masterson has yet to allow a run in seven innings this spring after he threw three scoreless innings yesterday in his third appearance. Masterson worked on his changeup, throwing five in 45 pitches. "I was very pleased," he said. "I wanted to come [in] and really throw all my pitches. I was pretty excited with what took place." . . . Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in his one inning, but he did allow two hits, the first he's yielded this spring . . . The Sox beat the Rays for the first time in three games. They had allowed 26 runs in the first two meetings, including the ugly 14-7 loss Saturday in which they surrendered nine unearned runs on six errors. "It's amazing what a difference a day makes," Francona said. "Caught the ball, threw it where we were supposed to. It's a lot more fun to watch a game like that." The Sox are 4-6 in the Grapefruit League . . . Infielder Nick Green pounded two more hits to increase his team-leading total to 10. Green roped a double and clobbered his first home run. Green is hitting .526 and slugging .789 in 19 at-bats.

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com.