No time to hit panic button

They're not alone. Save for Kevin Youkilis (.472) - about whom Pedroia joked, "I hope he keeps it up. I don't know if he'll hit .800. He might hit close to .500" - the Red Sox are not hitting. Though they broke out with a six-run eighth inning in an 8-2 victory over the A's Wednesday, the Sox are barely hitting Ortiz's weight: a .242 team average, 21st in baseball.

But why? Why are these players hitting this way? Why for example, has Pedroia started slowly in two of his three seasons?

"As a team, we've been probably a little more impatient than we normally are," hitting coach Dave Magadan said. "We've had some games where we've swung the bats early in the count. Kind of chased - not chasing balls, but maybe chasing pitchers' pitches early in the count."

Magadan said not swinging at those pitches is something a team can grow into, making sure batters get a pitch they can drive early in the count. Another factor is weather. And then there are those numbers on the scoreboard. The numbers in the newspaper. The numbers on TV.

The players can't exactly hide from their stats.

"I think the numbers are staring you in the face, because everyone's going to go through a stretch during the season when you go 3 for 17, 4 for 20," Lowell said. "If you're hitting .280 and you go down to .276, no one cares. I think everyone likes to get off to a good start, team-wise and individually. We don't like to see 2-6 going into [Wednesday's] game.

"But I think sometimes the numbers stare you in the face. It's where you almost have to try to tune it out and say this is just an 18-, 15-, 20-at-bat stretch. There's going to be a lot of them during the season. I don't think we can accept to be defined by 20 at-bats. If we're going to write it off after [nine] games, we're in trouble."

They have to roll with it in the end. Stay true to their swings and stay true to the work they're doing - and wait for the line drives to drop.

But on occasion, the Sox have had the same thoughts fans have: Should I change something? What's wrong with me? What is going on?

"You think stuff like that," Pedroia said. "But the first series against the Rays, I mean, jeez. I lined out four times. If those four fall, I'm hitting .400, right? Everyone thinks I'm the greatest player ever. I think the biggest thing is just stay within yourself, don't try to do too much, and be who you are."

The reigning American League MVP hit .182 in April in his rookie season in 2007, has a .249 career April average, and is hitting .179 this season. But not everyone is used to a slow start. Lowell has a career .299 average the first month of the season, his highest of any month. Yet he started at .189 last year, and at .229 this year. Ortiz is batting .176.

"I think there's a certain period of time where you ease yourself in the daily grind of the season," Magadan said. "I think that for some guys, it's easier than others. Some guys, right away they get into the routine of the grind of the season. Other guys like to have those 30, 40 at-bats under their belt so they kind of get into their own skin during the season."

There is no question that, because one hit can make such a difference in a player's average, slumps at the beginning of the season are far more magnified than if they happened in July. If, for example, one more line drive had fallen in for Pedroia, his average would have jumped to .205. That still isn't where Pedroia (or anyone else) sees him come the middle of the season, but it's significant.

One good game and those averages are completely different.

So as disconcerting as it is for players to see themselves at .200 or below, Pedroia said, they need to "just take a step back. Say, 'Listen, I'm going to be fine. I'm going to get my hits; they're coming.' "

Lowell emphasizes, too, that it's just as likely to be mental as physical.

"We were talking about it yesterday," Pedroia said. "I think Don Mattingly was a career .100 hitter in April [actually .266]. It just takes some guys some time to get going. But no, my biggest thing is if you have good at-bats, you're going to be successful. I don't look at 30 at-bats as a bad start. If you're hitting .150 after 200 at-bats, then that's a slow start.

"Thirty or even 100 at-bats, that's not a slow start. Two hundred is where you need to hit the panic button."

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