Something is amiss with Varitek so far

Spring numbers are usually ignored, and for good reason. But last spring, upon his return from representing the United States in the World Baseball Classic, Varitek hit just .176 (3 for 17), which foreshadowed his worst season at the plate in the big leagues. He batted a career-low .238 with a dozen home runs and 55 RBIs. After straining a gluteus muscle at the start of the season, he limped to the finish, batting just .213 with one home run in 61 at-bats the last month after rushing back from knee surgery. He struck out a startling 13 times in his last 18 at-bats.

"I tried to make some changes," Varitek said at the start of camp, "and went into the tank."

Burdened by the challenge of helping Daisuke Matsuzaka make the transition from Japan to the major leagues, as well as having to learn what is essentially a reconstructed bullpen, Varitek does not have the luxury of focusing exclusively on his swing.

"I've gotten my at-bats," he said after holding another of his seemingly daily seminars on Matsuzaka, who pitched yesterday. "I've been making changes.

"I've been getting my work in. I try to make changes, I try to go back [to his previous approach], I'm trying to get it together."

Is there a risk to tinkering as much as he has?

"Yeah," he said, "there is a little bit. I've got to figure that out."

The Red Sox have a new batting coach, Dave Magadan. But the guy Varitek principally went to for advice in 2005, when he hit .281 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs, was not batting coach Ron Jackson but Dale Sveum, who was Terry Francona's third base coach and, like Varitek, a switch-hitter. Sveum spent plenty of time throwing or soft-tossing to Varitek in the cages beneath the center-field bleachers at Fenway Park.