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FORT MYERS Barry Larkin Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia’s goal isn’t merely to come back from his knee injury.He’s done that before.The challenge for the Boston second baseman this time is to return at the right time, to stick around longer than three games, and to help the Red Sox get back to the World Series with his play, instead of by cheering them on from the dugout.“The human body is on its own program, man,” Pedroia said after working out with the other infielders on Thursday, a day before the defending champions open their exhibition schedule against Northeastern University.“I’m trying to come back. Whenever it is, it is,” he said. “Obviously, I want to play and get back in there. But I’ve played in a lot of games. I understand the speed of the game and what it takes to play. We want to make sure my knee is OK.”A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia had surgery on his left knee after the 2017 season and started last year on the disabled list. He came back in May, but played just three games before going back on the DL and spending the rest of the season there.“My knee couldn’t handle the load,” he said on Thursday. “When you so something too soon, your body will say ‘Stop.’ That’s what happened.”Pedroia was with the team for its World Series run — the third championship of his career — and manager Alex Cora praised him for the leadership he provided from the bench. Pedroia talked about being able to enjoy the Series it more than when he was so focused on playing.But during the offseason he turned his attention back to rehabbing his knee.Cora would update reporters over the winter about texts he received from Pedroia — videos of him working out, and other progress updates that painted a picture of a guy who was eager to prove he would be ready. The Red Sox manager said if Pedroia can make it back, he would bat leadoff on opening day.But if Cora’s goal was to get the 35-year-old motivated, he didn’t need to bother.“I know he always asked for more. He’ll try to get five more (practice repetitions), and 10 more. And ‘I can sprint here and go there,'” Cora said. “There’s something about me telling him ‘no’ — he gets it.”Instead, the team is trying to control the comeback and avoid a repeat of last year’s false start. Cora said the question isn’t whether Pedroia can make it through a workout like Thursday’s Chris Sabo Jersey , but how his knee responds on Friday.“I don’t try to get too excited,” Pedroia said. “I was really happy after the first game I played last year and three days later it was pretty bad.”Cora said Pedroia wasn’t expected to play in Friday’s exhibition game against Northeastern or in the Grapefruit League opener against the New York Yankees on Saturday. (Nor are many other veterans and everyday players who don’t need the spring at-bats to get into shape or try to earn a spot on the team.)“We’re taking care of him,” Cora said. “You asked me how he feels — well, I’ll tell you tomorrow. Because he can run around and do everything. Tomorrow’s a big day. If he’s able to show up tomorrow and there’s no pain no soreness, that’s a win for him and obviously it’s a win for us.”Also Thursday, reliever Ryan Brasier returned to Florida after having his infected right pinkie toe checked out in Boston. Although Brasier is a candidate for the closer role that has been open since Craig Kimbrel left as a free agent, Cora said the infection hasn’t yet interfered with his timetable to get ready for the season. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Among various sheets of paper thumbtacked to the corkboard in Dave Martinez’s spring training office — Florida Kitchen Staff, Important Dates, Pitchers Work Groups — there’s one in the upper-left corner entitled Face Fear Like Bison.The Washington Nationals‘ manager came across its three-sentence message this offseason: “When a storm brews on the horizon, most animals run away from it. But bison instinctively run directly toward storms to minimize the amount of time they’re exposed to the elements. So face adversity head-on and power through whatever comes your way.”That, Martinez explained in an interview, captures the way he plans to approach his second season as a major league skipper, which begins when the Nationals host the New York Mets on March 28.“When I first saw it, I read it. I read it again. And I read it again. And I was like, ‘I get that.’ Sometimes you need to have a tough conversation or face a tough situation,” he said, punching his left palm with his right fist for emphasis, “and take it head on.”In Year 1, Martinez’s team went 82-80 and missed the playoffs http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , a step back after two consecutive NL East titles under his predecessor, Dusty Baker.Martinez isn’t going to pretend that didn’t happen. He can’t, of course.“Injuries were a big part of it. I really feel that. But with that being said, we needed to get better,” Martinez said. “Better at baserunning. Better on defense. And our pitching, at times, needed to be better; the two-out homers needed to go away.”So he began the process of trying to improve during Washington’s final series of last September, at the Colorado Rockies, when Martinez brought in players, one by one, for chats of 5-10 minutes apiece.“Not only did I tell them what went right and what went wrong and what they needed to get better at — but it also was about me,” Martinez said. “I gave them the opportunity to talk about me. How do I need to get better? How can I help you get better?”Closer Sean Doolittle said players appreciated the chance to offer feedback and “communicate to him how things could go more efficiently or run smoother.”Changes have been evident in spring training.Extra defensive drills, for example.Emphasis on the sort of baserunning that resulted in Ryan Zimmerman’s run in the second inning of an exhibition game Monday: infield hit; going first-to-third on a single; scoring on a safety squeeze.No visit from last year’s infamous “get over the hump” camels.“He was open to hearing what could be done differently. That’s so important, I think. Things have run really smoothly in camp, definitely more so than last year,” Doolittle said. “A big part of that is taking in everything he learned — that we learned as a group, too — last year. We’re learning his way of doing things and what makes him tick. And he’s learning us.”Another way Martinez did that was by staying in Washington over the winter and watching videos of games from 2018.“Were there some things he would change that he did last year? That he learned from? Yes, 100 percent,” Zimmerman said.Martinez would go through a particular reliever’s appearances, say Anthony DeSclafani Jersey , to try to pick up something that could be useful. Maybe it was whether the pitch selection was optimal — “Does he need to throw more cutters? Does he need to throw more sliders?” — or whether there was some bit of body language that served as a tell the player was tiring.Martinez jotted down notes on paper, transferred them to a computer, then forwarded thoughts and questions to the club’s analytics staff in an effort to mesh what he’d seen with what the numbers seemed to say.“What I’ve seen so far,” said second baseman Brian Dozier, one of eight free agents the Nationals signed during a busy offseason of roster churn, “is he does a really good job of combining old school with new school.”Before agreeing to his one-year contract with Washington, Dozier was wooed by Martinez during a phone call. Truth is, Dozier said, their conversation wasn’t all that much about baseball or even the Nationals — much of it was about their mutual hobby of duck hunting.That’s Martinez’s way. He said he considers communication and conversation to be his greatest skills as a skipper.“The minute we get players, I start calling them up,” Martinez said. “I want to know them and what they’re all about. See what makes them tick. Build that relationship with them.”That style was shaped by 16 years as a player in the majors.Also by 10 years as a bench coach.Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who gave Martinez a three-year deal with an option for a fourth in October 2017, calls his manager “an extremely smart baseball man” who “handles the game extremely well.”Rizzo pointed to injuries as a major factor in last season’s disappointment. Martinez did, too, but also set about finding ways to win more.“It would be easy for him to kind of sit back and say, ‘Last year just wasn’t our year, for whatever reason.’ But I think he really internalized a lot of it and is handling it in a proactive way,” Doolittle said. “That has an effect on guys here. Like: We’re not going to wait. We can’t dig ourselves a hole in the division. We’ve got to go from Day 1 — and go right at that storm.”