Jonathan Papelbon jokes with his Red Sox teammates.

AP / Charles Krupa

You can miss a lot if you take a week off.

Like Jonathan Papelbon’s miracle cure.

All winter, all we heard about Papelbon was that his days in the bullpen were over. That, good as he was last season as a closer — and he was very, very good — it was in the best long-term career interests of the hard-throwing 26-year-old right-hander to move into the starting rotation because of concerns about the shoulder injury that sent him to the sidelines on the first day of last September.

“He’s had these episodes a couple of times now,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said in the middle of last September, two weeks after Papelbon had been “shut down” as a result of subluxation (partial dislocation) of his right shoulder.

Papelbon’s shoulder also had bothered him just before the All-Star break, and so the Sox decided last fall that it would be better to have him pitch, say, seven innings as a starter every fifth day rather than an inning or so out of the bullpen three or four times in a span of five days.

“We made the move,” general manager Theo Epstein said late last November, “based on medical reasons. It was determined that it would be in his best interest for his long-term health to be in a situation where he doesn’t have to pitch back-to-back days. It was determined that he would benefit greatly from having four days between appearances to strengthen his shoulder, maintain the condition of the shoulder and get on a regular starter’s program. It would be contrary to the best medical advice to move him back to the bullpen.”

That remained the team’s stance throughout spring training, even after Papelbon had spent the offseason rehabbing and strengthening his shoulder.

As late as last Thursday morning, the Journal was reporting that with veteran Mike Timlin headed for the disabled list and thus out of the running to assume the closer’s role Papelbon had filled so effectively last season, Julian Tavarez was the leading candidate for the job.

Then, suddenly, Papelbon made it known that he had approached Francona and Epstein about going back to the bullpen, and they had agreed it was the right move.

“This was a decision I made,” Papelbon said. “This is something I’d like to do for the rest of my career.”

Let’s hope it’s the right decision, and that Papelbon will have a long career in Boston.

At first glance, it’s wonderful news for the Red Sox that Papelbon wants, and feels healthy enough, to once again be Boston’s closer.

He was tremendous in that role last year in his first full season in the majors, converting on his first 20 save opportunities and finishing with 35 saves in 41 chances. His earned-run average was 0.92 in 59 appearances. He struck out 75 batters in 68 1/3 innings, walking only 13 while giving up just 40 hits and three home runs. His record was 4-2.

The Sox have no one else in camp who has given any indication he could come remotely close to those numbers.

Certainly not the injured Timlin, at age 41. Not Tavarez, who now will take over Papelbon’s spot in the starting rotation, as the fifth man behind Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield. Not Joel Pineiro, considered by some to be a front-runner for the closer’s job when he was signed as a free agent from Seattle in early January. And not Brendan Donnelly, obtained in an offseason trade with the Angels after going 5-0 as a set-up man out of the bullpen last year.

Although the Red Sox appear to have a better starting rotation than their archrivals in the A.L. East, the New York Yankees, the Bronx Bombers seem to have a stronger starting lineup, and Boston’s lack of a closer — the Yanks have future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera — could have been the decisive difference in whether the Sox can put an end to New York’s nine-year run as division champion.

A healthy Papelbon coming out of the bullpen clearly tilts the scales in Boston’s favor. But is he truly healthy? After all, the Sox have been saying for months that his career could be cut short if he continued to be a closer. Now, with the season about to start, and the Sox in desperate need of a closer, that’s suddenly no longer the case?

“The most significant news about ‘Pap,’ ” Epstein said last week, “was that he reported to spring training with a completely rehabilitated and reconditioned shoulder. (Last fall,) the only move, in our opinion, was to put him in the rotation. But Pap has had a great offseason. At that point, it became pretty clear, with the improvement, the degree of management would no longer require a stay in the rotation.”

Ah, yes, the degree of management.

Francona last week acknowledged that he overused his young closer last season.

“We went to him early, and we went to him often,” said Francona, noting that he sometimes brought in Papelbon with none out in the eighth inning, and occasionally allowed him to throw as many as 40 pitches, sometimes even 50.

This season, Francona insists, “common sense and good judgment” will prevail in how Papelbon is used.

But, after months of hearing the Sox say Papelbon should start, only to see them now return him to the role they felt could shorten his career, it’s hard to have confidence that common sense and good judgment aren’t as difficult to come by in Boston as a closer.

jdonald@projo.com