Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury misjudges a ball hit by Daric Barton in the eighth inning last night.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

BOSTON — The Red Sox don’t have to submit their 25-man playoff roster until Tuesday at the earliest, but it appears as though there’s just one spot up for grabs.

The team intends to take 14 position players –— the starting nine, plus reserve catcher Doug Mirabelli, infield backups Eric Hinske and spare outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Bobby Kielty.

That leaves room for 11 pitchers, 10 of which have been determined. They breakdown as four starters (Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield), plus six relievers: Jonathan Papelbon, Eric Gagne, Hideki Okajima, Mike Timlin, Manny Delcarmen and Javier Lopez.

Lopez has been ineffective against lefties lately, but appears to be a lock for the roster, if only because he will give the team another lefthanded option beyond Okajima. Lopez has also enjoyed some success against righties. Jon Lester will not be part of the Division Series roster, since there’s no room for him to start and he has little professional bullpen experience. It’s conceivable that he could be brought back for the LCS or World Series, however.

That leaves four pitchers competing for the final spot: Clay Buchholz; Julian Tavarez, Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey.

Fair shares

The Sox held a pregame meeting to vote on playoff shares.

In 2004, when the Sox won the World Series, they set a baseball record for the most number of full winners’ shares awarded — 56 — taking care of players who played only a part of the season, along with a number of off-field personnel such as clubhouse attendants and support staff.

The team is given a pool of revenues for reaching the postseason and advancing each round. It’s then up to the players on the 25-man roster to determine how the money is divided; the more full shares awarded, the smaller the shares.

According to a source, the team didn’t come to final decision. The players wanted some additional data from the Players Association, but said one: “I’m sure we’re going to take good care of people again.”

The club announced its list of Minor League award winners and recognized the players before the game.

Infielder Jed Lowrie was named Offensive Player of the Year; Buchholz was given Pitcher of the Year; Defensive Player of the Year and Baserunner of the Year both went to Ellsbury; Dominican Summer League/Latin Player of the Year was Ronald Bermudez; and Dominican Summer League/Latin Pitcher of the Year was Stolmy Pimental.

Okajima available tonight

Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima hasn’t pitched since Sept. 14 due to fatigue, but he’ll be back in the mix tonight when Boston hosts Minnesota. The left-hander has been one of the main kingpins in the bullpen for the Red Sox this season, but had struggled a bit of late so the club shut him down. Manager Terry Francona said yesterday that Okajima will work in some capacity tonight. He will likely throwing 20-25 pitches and the club wants to make sure he has life on his stuff, including how sharp his command is.

“We’re not looking for an increase in velocity,” said Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.

Okajima tossed a 40-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday and showed no ill effects. He’s been working on a strength and conditioning program since his last outing.

“His arm is probably stronger than it has been since early in the season,” said Francona. “He never got to the point he was hurt. He was fatigued.”

Manny back in the swing

Manny Ramirez has shown quite clearly that he has recovered from his strained left oblique, which kept him out of the starting lineup from Aug. 29 until Tuesday night. Not only is he showing timing at the plate — he went 3 for 3 yesterday, making him 4 for 5 with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored — but he also doesn’t seemed concerned about reinjuring himself running the bases.

Yesterday he steamed home from second base on a single to right by Mike Lowell in the third inning, and in the fourth he zipped from first to third on a single to right by Ortiz. For the second game in a row Ramirez batted second, in front of Ortiz.

“I think he’s falling in love with hitting second,” joked Ortiz. “He’s getting all the cookies [to hit] and I have to deal with all the [tough pitches].”

Around the bases

Jon Lester fanned nine in only 4 1/3 innings. The last Red Sox pitcher to fan that many in less than five innings was Hideo Nomo in 2001.

By Sports Writers Sean McAdam, Steven Krasner and Joe McDonald.