SARASOTA, Fla. -- So far, so good for Dustin Pedroia.

The Red Sox second baseman came through his first game of the spring -- his first competitive one in more than nine months -- without any issues, setting him up for a second start in the field on Saturday at JetBlue Park against the Mets.

Manager Alex Cora said Pedroia -- who played two innings, going 1-for-1 with a single and a run scored in his debut -- would likely increase that workload by an inning on Saturday.

"I just don’t want him to feel like every step is a big thing for him," Cora said. "We’re trying to get him built up so he can be ready for Opening Day. Two innings [Thursday], three innings tomorrow, then he’ll have Sunday and Monday off. If everything goes well, he’ll be back out there on Tuesday. It’s a good start."

Pedroia’s last game had been May 29, one of only three he played in 2018 thanks to left knee woes that still lingered after major surgery he had following the 2017 season. Pedroia also had a minor arthroscopic procedure last July. Cora plans to take Pedroia’s return slowly, declining to look ahead at late next week, let alone next month.

"The medical staff, all the information that we’re collecting, that’s going to let us know where he’s at," Cora said. "I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m here for three innings tomorrow and we’ll see how he reacts from that."

Cora isn’t worried about how many at-bats Pedroia gets in games, as he can always jump over to a Minor League game once they begin next week to take some hacks. How Pedroia’s knee responds to the rest of the game, both on the infield and the basepaths, is of far greater consequence to Cora.

"It’s just a matter of the amount of time he spends on his feet, playing defense, moving around, reacting," Cora said. "Every game is different. Yesterday, he got a routine ground ball, but he broke to back first; that’s a plus. He had to run the bases, he had to take off on a wild pitch, then he has to stop and restart. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on in a game that makes every game different. That’s what we’re trying to see; how he can react to whatever possible situation that comes up in games."

It’s extremely unlikely that Pedroia will play nine innings in a game this spring, but once the regular season gets underway, the plan is to unleash him into full action.

"You start looking at the NBA now; LeBron is not going to play every day. They’ve got their reasons. Anthony Davis, he doesn’t play the fourth quarter; there’s a reason," Cora said. "Here, I can’t put Pedey in the lineup and say, ‘You’re playing five innings.’ When he plays, it’s nine innings. That’s the way it is. We have enough information and we’re still learning from this; his workouts, his workload, what he can do before games, what he has to do after games. It’s a lot, but think we’re on the right track."

Brock Holt and Eduardo Núñez will each continue to see action at second, giving the Red Sox a pair of strong options on days Pedroia isn’t in the lineup.

"We’ve got to take care of Pedey, so there will be plenty of at-bats for the three of them," Cora said. "It’s good; it keeps guys rested, sharp. We’re going to have a pretty good bench on a daily basis."

Having battled his own knee issues since the end of the 2017 season, Nunez is enjoying a productive, healthy spring, going 4-for-12 (.333) in his first six games.

"He’s been good; it’s good to have two knees, I guess," Cora said. "He looks stronger. I don’t want to say he wasn’t healthy, but he wasn’t 100 percent, especially in the first part of the season. Now you can see that he’s moving around, swinging the bat well; it’s a regular Spring Training for him."