PAWTUCKET –– Highly touted Red Sox prospect Aaron Bates, a power-hitting first baseman/outfielder, has been called up to Triple A and made his Pawtucket debut Monday night.

Bates was Boston’s third-round pick in the 2006 draft, and has been tearing up Double A with the Portland Sea Dogs. With outfielder Sean Danielson heading to the disabled list, Bates got his first call to Triple A.

“It’s great. You play hard and you play well and you get promotions, so that’s always great,” Bates said. “You play hard, you keep doing it, you see what happens.”

Bates, 25, was hitting .340 with seven home runs and 39 RBI in 52 games for Portland, mostly playing left field. He led the Eastern League in hits and runs. He was Eastern League Player of the Month in May.

The North Carolina State University product played first base for Pawtucket Monday night, making several nice plays but failing to dig a throw out of the dirt from Travis Denker in the seventh inning, resulting in an error for Denker. Bates was 0-for-4 with an RBI.

After hitting nearly 30 home runs between Single A and Double A in 2007, Bates hit a wall in 2008, with only 11 home runs at Portland. He said he took longer than he’d like to adjust to Double-A pitching, where the opposing pitchers make far fewer mistakes.

“It was a slower process than you’d like, but that’s what happens,” Bates said.

The power, he believed, was always there, and he’s proven that so far this season.

Now, he’ll try to prove he’s ready for the next level.

In Pawtucket, Bates has a lot of familiar faces around him — ex-teammates from Portland such as Jeff Natale, Michael Bowden and Kris Johnson.

“It’s a new atmosphere, but all these same faces from spring training, a lot of the same guys –– the guys are great. So we’ll see what happens,” Bates said.

The list goes on

Pawtucket players have suffered through a litany of injuries this season, and the number on the disabled list right now has reached nine. That’s after bringing Natale back from the DL late last week. Danielson and pitcher Javy Lopez were placed on the seven-day DL Monday, Danielson with a calf strain, Lopez with left biceps tendinitis.

Lopez’s DL stint is retroactive to June 5.

Some of these nine players will be back soon. Outfielder Jonathan Van Every is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday, after spending a week on the disabled list with a left knee sprain.

Others seem further off. Outfielder Zach Daeges is still in Florida rehabbing from an ankle sprain suffered in spring training. The injury was initially believed to be nothing serious, but it has lingered and there is no timetable yet for his return.

Catcher John Otness, infielder Ivan Ochoa, reliever Chris George, starter Devern Hansack, infielder Sandy Madera, and now Danielson are on the DL. But only Hansack has a serious injury, a separated shoulder.

Around the bases

Red Sox Hall of Famer Bill Monbouquette and former Sox pitcher and local product Brian Rose were on hand Monday to sign autographs and greet fans. Monbouquette, who threw a no-hitter and won 20 games for the Sox in the early 1960s, spent 11 years in the majors. Monbouquette was diagnosed with leukemia last year, but the disease is in remission, and he signed autographs for fans for 90 minutes.

Rose, a product of Dartmouth, Mass., set a Pawtucket record with 17 victories for the PawSox in 1997, earning International League Pitcher of the Year honors. He compiled a 15-23 record over five major-league seasons.

dbarbari@projo.com