Drew gets "proactive" injection in back

J.D. Drew was back in Boston on Monday to get an injection in his back, Red Sox manager Terry Francona said on Tuesday morning.

The official word is that Drew wasn't experiencing any discomfort; instead, Francona said, it's almost an experiment to see if the injection that would be something that could help him should he experience discomfort later in the season. With so much time left in spring training, losing a few days wasn't going to set Drew back at all.

"If it worked, we'd think, 'OK, good,'" Francona said. "If it didn't seem to do anything, OK, well, it's March 3 or March 2."

One reporter asked if the injection could be called proactive.

"That's a good word I should have used," Francona said, smiling.

Drew will be back in town to take batting practice on Thursday and will be back in the Red Sox lineup on Friday.

Francona emphasized that Drew hadn't been experiencing any pain or discomfort.

"He's actually doing real well -- the day he left, he was hitting balls out on that street," said the manager, nodding toward right field. "We felt like it was a good time to do it. ... We just thought we'd take advantage of the earliness of camp and get it done and see if it's something that's there later in the year if we need it."

The manager also said he didn't expect Drew to need surgery on his back anytime in the imminent future. ("Oh, (expletive), no," he said.)

"I would assume as you get older, it probably doesn't get better," Francona said. "When he's 50, I don't want to say this, but I don't care."