FORT MYERS, Fla. — Tim Wakefield has been working with pitching coach John Farrell, trying to cut down on his time to the plate.

Wakefield was between 1.5-1.6 seconds in his last outing and he wanted to trim that time some, especially since the knuckleball’s slow path makes it easier to run against.

“I’m just trying to give my catcher as much an advantage as possible,” said Wakefield.

But against Dodgers speedster Juan Pierre on Thursday afternoon, that still wasn’t enough. Wakefield was clocked at 1.4 seconds, but Pierre still swiped second.

“When you have guys like that . . . ” said Wakefield, shrugging.

The Sox want to have Wakefield cognizant of potential base-stealers, but don’t want him to be consumed by it.

“The quality of the pitch is the most important thing,” Wakefield said, “and if you can control the running game within that realm, that’s a bonus.”

smcadam@projo.com