FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez took another very positive step forward Wednesday afternoon by going 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored in a minor league game at the player development complex. After the game, he said it was the first time all spring that everything had clicked for him at the plate.
With his three plate appearances in a Tuesday night loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at City of Palms Park, Gonzalez has now played in games on consecutive days for the first time as he works his way back from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.
Gonzalez has been slightly ahead of schedule all month, but the chance to see several pitches Wednesday afternoon finally put him in the right frame of mind.
"First couple of days, I was just hitting, just looking for a fastball," Gonzalez said. "The last couple of days I've been trying to actually have at-bats. Hasn't gone too well, so it was good to be able to go up there and actually have at-bats and then kind of mix it up and be aggressive.
"I've been seeing the ball great as far as seeing it out of the hands, seeing it ball-strike, but when it comes to actually seeing a pitch I want to swing at and swinging, it just wasn't clicking. I really don't care about results because results don't really matter in spring training but just being able to see a strike and take a good swing at a strike with the right timing and all that stuff, it hasn't been there quite, so today I felt a lot better about that."
Among his six at-bats were two sharp singles up the middle — both on the first pitch — and a solid liner down the left-field line that likely would've been a wall-ball at Fenway Park. It resulted in a long single for Gonzalez, who also grounded out twice and lined to center. He saw a total of 24 pitches from Tampa Bay minor leaguers Dane De La Rosa and Jeremy Hall, both right-handers.
The slugger has not been able to use his usual 33-ounce bat consistently due to the shoulder, instead going with a 31-ounce stick. On Wednesday, he used the bigger bat in every at-bat, a sure sign that he is just about where he needs to be. It was his transition to a heavier bat a few years ago that helped transform him into a potent power threat.
Gonzalez will not travel with the team Thursday when it heads to Jupiter to play Florida. He said he expects to play in consecutive big league games for the first time Friday and Saturday, both home games.
Those games should offer some semblance of the Opening Day lineup. The thought of that has Gonzalez giddy.
"The potential's unbelievable," he said. "We have a very strong one through nine and guys that are going to be platooned here [but] that would start on most teams. It's great to be in a lineup like that because you know you're going to have those days when you get up six times, and that can only be good for you offensively."
Such was the case Wednesday. Six at-bats, plenty of solid swings and another big step toward the real thing.
