BOSTON -- If the streaky Jackie Bradley Jr. times things right, his walk year could wind up being a pretty successful one.

The 2020 regular season will be 60 games, and Bradley, the starting center fielder for the Red Sox, seems poised to get off to a good start. And if he does that, perhaps the shorter season can help him avoid those prolonged cold streaks that have dogged him in the past.

Bradley was one of Boston’s hottest hitters before Spring Training got shut down, hitting .414 with two homers and five RBIs in Grapefruit League action.

And while the Red Sox aren’t keeping stats during intrasquad games, Bradley continues to swing the bat well and carry himself with confidence. Manager Ron Roenicke, who has known Bradley for three years now, senses that he’s in a good place, mentally and physically.

“He’s swinging the bat so well right now that I think he’s just confident in the whole game,” Roenicke said. “We know he plays great defense, and we know right now, and in the first Spring Training, that he’s really swung the bat well and he’s going the other way.

“I think the last few years when I was here, the difference between his first half and second half was when he started hitting the ball the other way, and as soon as he started going opposite field, the average started going up and the power started showing up, so we think that’s really important for him to do.”

In 2019, Bradley hit .225, but he had 21 homers. As someone who hits in the lower third of the batting order, the Red Sox don’t need Bradley to carry the offense. They just need him to contribute.

And if Bradley gets hot, as he’s done at times in the past, all the better.

“With Jack, you can see the confidence he has,” Roenicke said. “It took me a while probably to get to know Jackie. The first year, I was new and trying to get to know everybody. Last year, I felt really good with communication with him, opening up and telling me where he’s at. He’s at a really good spot right now. He’s always got a smile on his face."

Lin gets crash course at first
Roenicke and his staff had a brainstorm for Sunday’s Summer Camp workout to try the already versatile Tzu-Wei Lin at first base for the intrasquad game.

Lin handled the assignment well, making a couple of strong picks. The left-handed hitter from Taiwan has already played second base, third base, shortstop and center field in his three seasons for the Red Sox.

Adding another position could make Lin more valuable. And with Brock Holt no longer around, Lin has a bigger opportunity to stick on the Major League roster.

“Any time a utility man can play all positions, it increases his value,” Roenicke said. If he shows that he can play first base like he does all the other positions, we’ve got a valuable player that we know is a good defender. And it helps us in different situations.”

McHugh still in ‘rehab’ phase
It doesn’t sound as if right-handed swingman Collin McHugh will be ready for the start of the season. Recovering from a flexor strain in his elbow that he sustained last season, McHugh has been throwing bullpen sessions, but he hasn’t faced hitters yet.

“I’ve talked to [trainer] Brad [Pearson] about him, talked to [pitching coach] Dave Bush about him [Saturday],” Roenicke said. “He’s just not at a point where we feel he can start throwing live BPs and things. Brad told me, ‘He’s really still on a rehab program, so don’t feel like there’s a progression here like you’d normally do with a healthy guy in Spring Training. Just leave it as he’s still rehabbing, and once we get to that spot where we know he’s really confident in his long toss and he plays catch every day, then we’ll try to progress there.’"

Monday plan
With the Boston area expected to get some rain on Monday, Roenicke switched the intrasquad game from 2 p.m. ET to 10:30 a.m. ET.

Unlike Sunday, when the squads played seven innings, Roenicke expects a short three-inning contest on Monday with no defenders.

Starting on Friday, the Red Sox will start playing their intrasquad games at night to get acclimated to the regular-season schedule.