BOSTON — When Red Sox manager Terry Francona announces Boston’s playoff roster tomorrow, he hopes third baseman Mike Lowell and outfielder J.D. Drew are healthy enough to be on it.

After all, Lowell was the Most Valuable Player of the 2007 World Series, and Drew hit .280 with 19 homers and 64 RBI this season.

Lowell and Drew traveled to Anaheim with their teammates yesterday, but making the Red Sox’ roster for the American League Division Series with Anaheim is not set in stone, though it appears likely they will be active.

They both took part in batting practice yesterday and both are improving regarding their injuries, Francona said.

Lowell, who is hitting .274 with 73 RBI and 17 home runs, has been limited by a sore left hip and Drew has been plagued by a lower-back strain and a herniated disk.

Both will work out this afternoon before a decision on activating them is made.

Lowell is optimistic about starting tomorrow in Game One.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “It’s never really bothered me to swing, so today was kind of just to get into the flow of the game. Tomorrow will be a big day, because I’ll be taking ground balls and seeing how that goes. I think that’ll be more information for me.” Lowell has played in just 12 games since Aug. 13, and has had only one at-bat since Sept. 16.

“He came out today and actually did pretty well,” Francona said of Lowell. “Hitting is not really the problem. In fact, I think he said that’s really the easy part. It’s some of the lateral movement, and I don’t know if it’s starting and stopping — somewhat stopping, change of direction, things like that while he’s rotating, but he did have a pretty good day.”

Drew has only started two games since Aug. 17, but the good news is one of those starts came on Sunday — the last day of the regular season — and Francona said Drew was feeling much better yesterday.

“J.D. did OK,” Francona said when asked how Drew was at practice. “He came out. Again, today was optional and he felt good enough to be able to participate in [batting practice], which was really a good sign.”

That’s a big improvement from how Drew said he felt on Saturday.

“I’m doing everything I can to get myself into shape,” Drew said Saturday. “Maybe I can participate (in the postseason), but if it doesn’t get any better it’s definitely a scratch, and then we’ve got three or four months to let it get better. We’re trying to get to a point where I’m on the roster, but I can’t in good conscience say ‘I’m ready to go’ and then leave Tito stranded after playing one game and not being able to walk the next day.

“Everybody is concerned, especially myself,” he said. “I played three innings (Wednesday) and I didn’t feel great, but I got through it and felt decent when I left the game. I thought I would be ready (to play last Friday) but I was stiff.”

Drew attempted to run sprints Friday afternoon but did not finish his workout.

If Lowell doesn’t play, the Red Sox would likely move Kevin Youkilis to third and start Mark Kotsay at first. If Drew is out, Kotsay could play right field or Jacoby Ellsbury could play there, with Coco Crisp taking Ellsbury’s spot in center field.

“Having Mike Lowell out of the lineup is tough for us defensively and offensively,” Youkilis said. “He’s one of our top players, and it definitely would be great to have him.”

While Drew was unavailable for comment yesterday, Lowell said he is going to do everything he can to start tomorrow.

roblee@projo.com