Weighing in

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- One of the biggest goals for Josh Reddick this spring was to put on weight. Not just to impress the coaching staff and front office with his bat and his outfield defense, and to refine a sometime too-aggressive swing, but to eat.

Reddick has bulked up from 172 pounds to 185 pounds at this point, and is looking to hit 190 to 195 pounds. This, of course, isn't coming from him, it's coming from the team.

So, given where he's weighing in these days, the outfielder was happy with his ability to bulk up, and also with his performance so far this spring.

"I was actually impressed with myself," he said. "I went back to one of my old batting stances to help me see pitches a little bit better, and I was actually surprised that I did see pitches like I did. I actually got two walks, which is pretty good in like 30 plate appearances for me."

Reddick has often been accused of being overly aggressive at the plate, a trait that helped him become an offensive force in high school. But it's not exactly the Sox way, so he has been working on becoming more selective at the plate, not swinging at every pitch. He would be working in the cage earlier in the spring, and one of the coaches would just have to give him a little tip -- "Bad pitch" -- and he would try to get the message.

This spring, he played in 13 games, with 11 hits in 22 at bats, with two doubles, one triple, and four RBI. He had just one strikeout, two walks, and slugged .682, while hitting .500.

"It felt great to come out here and actually hit the big league pitching," Reddick said. "You're that little kid growing up, saying 'Wow, this is amazing. How do they do it?' And then you come out here and you succeed a little bit at this level, and you're like, Wow, maybe I do have a chance to compete with these guys."