WASHINGTON — Expectations will be high Thursday night when John Smoltz makes his regular-season debut for the Red Sox.

And no one has higher expectations than Smoltz.

"This is not the old, or the new, or the done. This is just a new chapter," said Smoltz, who is expects to be held to a pitch count of between 85 and 90. "When I have a baseball in my hand, I feel like I can make a pitch and do the things I have to do and hopefully take the sting out of the bat. If that's the case, we'll progress and keep getting better every time out. [Thursday] is one wrung on the ladder to try to climb as far as I can to see how good I can be. Really, at the end of the day I want to be in a position to pitch in the playoffs."

Smoltz, 42, is in his 21st season in the big leagues, after spending the first 20 with the Atlanta Braves. He signed with the Red Sox during the offseason after the Braves decided not to re-sign him.

One of the Nationals he'll face is a former Braves teammate who also spent time with the Red Sox.

"Smoltz is a true competitor, man," said outfielder Willie Harris. "I'm just happy that he's still living his dream after what happened to him in Atlanta. I don't think that was fair at all for a guy like that who has done so much for that organization. For them to say, ‘Nah, we're going to go a different way' [wasn't right].

"For him to battle back from arm problems and ready to pitch for probably the most prolific team in the game, I think it's great for him. I'm definitely not looking forward to facing him. He's a Hall of Fame guy and he knows how to pitch."

Smoltz is confident. He believes he can help the Red Sox the remainder of the regular season and in the playoffs.

"It will be a success," he said. "I came back with this mindset that it's not about stories, or saying I can do it again. It's about pitching and getting hitters out. The end result is going to be that, and three, four or five starts from now, I think you'll see why I feel the way I do."

Smoltz also understands he can't get too pumped and expect too much, especially since it'll be the first time in a real game he's thrown a baseball since undergoing shoulder surgery last June while he was still with the Braves.

"Hopefully I've learned from some of those past experiences, what I call two of the most anxious moments - my first game as a closer and my first game back as a starter after five years," he said. "Neither of which did I do very well, but both turned out to be great years. I'm not going to get too caught up in whether or not tomorrow is a success or a failure based on one start - it's a process."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona completely understands that process. He's witnessed Smoltz work extremely hard to return to form and hopefully help the Red Sox win.

"The looking ahead part is hard," said Francona. "He's worked pretty hard to back from a significant surgery. He's done everything we've asked - maybe more. He's been a model. He's gone through a lot to put himself in a position and I think he can help us win a lot of games. He wanted to pitch into the playoffs. He's put himself into a position where that'll happen. We're excited about this."

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There was some concern late Tuesday night and early Wednesday afternoon that something was wrong with Jason Varitek. He's always covered with full-body ice packs before and after games, but he was being worked on by trainer Paul Lessard during Tuesday's game.

Manager Terry Francona said it was merely a case of Varitek been dealing with a sore neck for the last 12 days, and the veteran catcher downplayed the situation.

"It's okay. I don't think you can play my position and not have things get banged up," he said. "It's nothing new. Paul wasn't working on my shoulder. He was working on my neck, so it's kind of a combination of both."

Varitek not only played Wednesday night, he hit a home run.

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Jed Lowrie skipped Wednesday night's PawSox game at Norfolk, but it had nothing to do with getting hit on the back of the left knee by a pitch Tuesday night. Francona said Lowrie was scheduled to have Wednesday night off, anyway, and added there's nothing structurally wrong with the knee. The Sox hope Lowrie will return to the lineup Thursday.

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Thanks to interleague games in National League cities, Red Sox fans get to see David Ortiz play first base every once in a while.

He was playing first base Wednesday night for only the second time this season. The slugger said he enjoys playing the field, and has proved in the past that he can hold his own defensively.

Case in point: The big man made two plays at first base that helped the Sox win a pair of championships, in 2004 and 2007.

Against the Cardinals in 2004, Ortiz helped turn a crucial double play when he fired the ball across the diamond to get St. Louis pitcher Jeff Suppan, who got hung up between home and third base.

In 2007, Ortiz made a nice pick of a poorly thrown ball in Game Four at Denver's Coors Field that stopped any chance of the Rockies gaining momentum.

"I think the '04 [play] got a lot more play, and I can see why," said Francona. "It was kind of a signature play. I thought the play in '07 was a tough play. It was an in-between hop, and they would have had a full-fledged rally going. That was a really good play."

After Game Four in 2007, Ortiz said to a group of reporters in the midst of a World Series champagne celebration: "For all of you who thought I couldn't play defense . . . [take that]."

"It was crazy for a guy like me to go out there and play first base in a World Series without having played in a long time," he said prior to BP Wednesday afternoon. "I got no fear, man. Whatever happened, happened. I try my best, though. That's all I think about. I do enjoy it."

For whatever he's doing with his glove, Ortiz's resurgence with the bat has continued. He cracked a three-run homer Wednesday night.