Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew, walking back to the dugout after striking out against Seattle on Wednesday night, had his day off yesterday without missing a game because of the rain.

The Providence Journal /GLENN OSMUNDSON

BOSTON — Unlike the nine other players who dressed yesterday afternoon and waited to see if they’d actually play baseball, a relaxed J.D. Drew was settling into a day off.

Drew, who’s never played more than 146 games in a season through his eight-year career, will sit out every 10 days or so with the Red Sox this season. Manager Terry Francona wrote Wily Mo Pena’s name into the lineup for yesterday’s game against Seattle that was ultimately rained out. The game is rescheduled for May 3. Francona and Drew spoke about the plan before yesterday and the benefits it would have not only for the 31-year-old veteran but the ball club.

“On a day like today when you’re going to be sitting around a lot, it’s one of those days when you can mentally slow yourself down and take a break from everything. I’ve learned to use those days and give yourself a rest,” said Drew. “It’ll be completely talked about between me and Tito on how we’re going to work it. I know he says every 10 [days] but it could be mixed up a little bit. We’ll play everything by ear and see how it goes.”

Asked after the game was called what Drew’s status will be for tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, Francona said, “he had his day off.”

That’s fine with Drew. He’s off to a strong start with hits in all eight games and a .393 (11-for-28) average and five RBI. It’s the type of start Drew was hoping for coming to a new town, especially one that’s heard the stories that question his durability. “It’s critical,” he said.

“Every player wants to get off to a good start of the season. I’ve had a season in L.A. a few years ago starting 0-for-25 and those are [tough]. I hit the ball hard and I had it all figured out that seven or eight of them could’ve easily been hits but they all translated into outs. Those are tough because you want to make a good impression on your new teammates and the city you’re playing for but more than anything to get a good start under your belt and have a comfort level fall into place.”

Francona said he’s hoping to keep Pena a viable option off the bench and Drew in great shape this season. “I think we need to, every 10 days or so, give him a day to not play. I think that’s the best way to get production from him the whole year.”

Francona said keeping all of his players fresh will be a test this season. Mike Lowell, for example, didn’t like to leave the lineup a year ago when he played in 153 games. This season, he’d like to plug Eric Hinske into games more often. “You have to wrestle [Lowell] to get him to take a day off,” Francona said, “but when it makes sense to take a forced day off, we’ll do it.”

Change of plans for Dice-K

Due to yesterday’s postponement, and since this inclement weather could last through the weekend, Francona was forced to tweak his rotation a little bit. Tim Wakefield will start tonight against the Angels, followed by Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Julian Tavarez on Monday. Daisuke Matsuzaka will start Tuesday in Toronto. Matsuzaka was scheduled for Monday and when Francona announced that the Japanese pitcher would be pushed back by a day, a member of the Matsuzaka Media Mafia let out a loud jeez. The Sox manager wasn’t too appreciative of the reaction.

“You really shouldn’t do that, said Francona. “That’s probably not the way we’re going to want to do things around here. I don’t know how they do it where [you’re from] but that’s usually my area. … We’re just trying to give guys a day to shoot for and have some semblance of order. Obviously, that’s not a very popular decision around all parts. We’re doing the best we can.”

Down on the farm

The Pawtucket Red Sox will play their 2007 home-opener tonight at McCoy Stadium.

The PawSox will host the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at 7:05. The game will air on Cox Sports TV with coverage beginning at 7 o’clock.

kmcnamar@projo.com