FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A couple of hours before his team took the field for a Grapefruit League game against the Rays on Saturday, Red Sox ace Chris Sale was on Field 5 airing it out for his first live batting practice of Spring Training.
In most other years, Sale would have made his first start at some point over this weekend. But the Red Sox are not only using a scaled-back approach for Sale in Spring Training, but the same goes for David Price, Rick Porcello and Thomas Pomeranz.
All four starters will make their Grapefruit League debuts at some point after March 1.
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"It's been really good," said Sale. "I think this has been a pretty neat Spring Training just with the scheduling and mainly focusing on work and workload. It's been great."

Sale felt that Saturday was a productive work session.
"I wouldn't say I'm maxing out, but I wouldn't say I'm holding back either," Sale said. "I'm just trying to find a happy medium of stepping on the gas enough that I'm getting something out of it, but I'm also not going too far over the top."
Though this approach is different than the one Sale has used in the past, he is fully confident he'll be ready to go when the season starts on March 29 at Tropicana Field against the Rays.
Tapping into Tony
Red Sox manager Alex Cora is enjoying having Hall of Famer Tony La Russa at his disposal every day during Spring Training. La Russa was hired by Boston in the offseason as a special assistant to Dave Dombrowski in the front office, but he is also there for whatever Cora needs.
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The conversations have been informative and enlightening for Cora so far.
"It's good to have dinner with him and talk about his teams, and one thing about his teams, they always found a way to have a good April," said Cora.
For that reason, Cora is particularly interested in how La Russa ran his teams throughout Spring Training.
"We talk about Spring Training and how can we push them a little bit, slow them down, position-player wise," Cora said. "And than at the end, get locked in. That's something that got my attention. The only thing is, obviously here is a lot different with the traveling."
Elias auditions for fifth spot
With Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez both in an uphill climb to be on the roster for the first week of the season as they bounce back from injuries, the Red Sox will probably need a fifth starter at least for the first turn through the rotation. Left-hander Roenis Elias made his case on Saturday, firing two perfect innings and striking out two against the Rays.
Elias is in competition with Christopher Johnson and Jalen Beeks to be the temporary fifth starter. With several days off in the second week of the season, Boston could just need a fifth starter one time through before Rodriguez or Wright is ready.

"He's stretched out," Cora said of Elias. "We know the situation with the fifth spot. We talk about the schedule. We need it. I know last year he didn't throw too many innings, but he went to the Dominican Republic and caught up with what he needed to do. He pitched all the way to the last week of December and he did an outstanding job. We'll stretch him out, he's a guy who can do a lot of stuff and his stuff plays, just a matter of him -- if it's the bullpen, in the role in the bullpen, he needs to be more consistent with his arm slot."
Myers running for a cause
Former Red Sox lefty reliever Mike Myers -- part of Boston's 2004 World Series championship team -- was at camp on Saturday representing the MLB Players Association. Myers is preparing to run the Boston Marathon in April, and for a good cause. All of the money Myers raises will go to the Angel Fund for ALS Research. Myers has a goal of raising $25,000. Myers will send an autographed picture to everyone who supports him. You can sign up at Runsignup.com/mikemyers.
This will be the first marathon for Myers.
"This is the one," said Myers. "Maybe the one and only when it's all said and done. The training has been going great. I've dropped 15 pounds really quickly. Training in Colorado is always interesting because I'm running on hills and mountains up there comparing to when I go to Florida, I'm going to love it because it's all flat ground."

Up next
The Red Sox will finish their three-game weekend homestand on Sunday when they host the Orioles in a 1:05 p.m. ET contest at JetBlue Park on MLB.TV and Gameday Audio. Christopher Johnson, who is out of options and trying to earn a spot in the rotation or the bullpen, will get the start. Setup men Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Carson Smith will all see action out of the bullpen.