Wright adds to spotless spring in latest outing

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Steven Wright has put concerns about his right shoulder to rest while regaining the type of knuckleball that led to him becoming an All-Star last season.
In Thursday's 10-7 win over the Pirates at JetBlue Park, Wright cruised through 4 1/3 shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three.
Over three Grapefruit League outings, Wright hasn't been scored on in 9 1/3 innings. He credits some of that success to the recent tutorials from former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
• Spring:Tickets | Ballpark | 40-man roster | NRIs
"Feels good," said Wright. "Obviously working with Wake has helped me tremendously in trying to stay back and concentrate on changing speeds and getting the knuckleball to come out of the same spot every time."
Good mechanics are what every pitcher strives for at this point of camp, but the key for Wright has been his return to health.
The pinch-running injury Wright suffered at Dodger Stadium last Aug. 7 lingered for months, even into the offseason.
The diagnosis was bursitis in the right shoulder, and it was of great annoyance to Wright, who was reduced to spectator status down the stretch and into the postseason.
"It definitely was grinding and stressful when you're going out there, especially with the pain I had," Wright said. "But the training staff has been amazing, with the recovery and the workload. We really monitored the workload at the beginning [of Spring Training] to make sure I was on a steady incline. It worked.
"It was a little frustrating at first because I wanted to get out there since I was starting to feel good, but they did a good job of pulling the reins back to make sure we did it at a steady incline so we didn't have any setbacks."
Now, it is full speed ahead for Wright, who will likely pitch the fourth game of the season for the Red Sox, on April 7 at Detroit.
"Today was a really good day for Steven," said manager John Farrell. "The fact that we could get him out to start the fifth inning, we were in positive territory from the goal of today, which was 60 to 65 pitches, four innings. I thought he was efficient early on. The strike throwing, the change of speeds with a knuckleball was very good once again. And with each outing, he's able to build the volume of pitches."