Recovering trio happy to pitch in

RED SOX NOTEBOOK

FORT MYERS — Three pitchers took the mound behind JetBlue Park and threw three different bullpen sessions that prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to give out hugs yesterday morning.

The first pitcher up was Tyler Thornburg, who hadn’t thrown a real bullpen session since before he underwent surgery to treat his rare case of thoracic outlet syndrome last June. The right-handed reliever threw more than 20 pitches before catcher Christian Vazquez ran out to embrace Thornburg for his monumental accomplishment.

“Conviction,” Cora said. “I’ve seen it since the first day I saw him throw. He’s throwing the ball with conviction. The feedback from Christian was great, and it was a great day for him.”

Thornburg is hesitant to guess if he’ll be ready for Opening Day but said he wouldn’t count himself out if he keeps throwing bullpens that made him feel as good as this one.

“I feel a lot better than I did in 2016,” Thornburg said of his final season with the Milwaukee Brewers. “In ’16, I felt like I had to do a bunch of stuff to get ready on a daily basis, and it was pretty much a day-to-day thing, but I found ways to deal with it, and that’s one thing that makes me, I don’t know, giddy to get on the mound again.”

Rotation candidates Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez also threw bullpen sessions. Both the righty knuckleballer and the left-hander are recovering from knee surgery and have been ruled out for the Opening Day roster. For Wright, throwing from a mound was a first since surgery in May.

“If there’s one thing I learned from this surgery, it’s that you have to try to have a little bit of a victory every day,” Wright said. “Today I feel like was a big one because now I know that my knee feels good. And I can start really pushing it as far as getting off the mound.”

Rodriguez underwent surgery in October.

“It feels really good,” he said. “Comfortable on it. Confident. I feel like I got good extension with the ball. Really good.”

First for Swihart

Blake Swihart finally got a chance to showcase his athletic ability somewhere other than behind the plate. The switch-hitting catcher, who’s going to move around the diamond in spring training, played six clean innings at first base in a 4-3 Grapefruit League win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“We’re taking baby steps with him,” Cora said. “We can go to first today. We can put him in the outfield. Keep moving him around. He’s in a good spot right now. He’s swinging the bat well, which is great. And it’s not the results, it’s just the at-bats. We’ll keep throwing him out there.

“I think the corners, left field, catch more probably. That’s always good for him.”

Swihart was 0-for-3 but is still hitting .417 for the spring (5-for-12) . . . .

Brett Netzer hit a twoout, two-run double in the seventh inning to lead the Sox past the Pirates. The second baseman, a thirdround draft pick out of the University of North Carolina last year, was emotional after the game, according to Cora. Netzer’s father, Drew, is battling cancer but was in the stands for the game.

“It was a special day for them,” Cora said. “We were thinking about it, ‘Can you imagine if he gets a hit here to win it?’ Good for the kid. That’s awesome.”

Kimbrel heads home

Closer Craig Kimbrel has left the team to be in Boston for his daughter’s surgery. The baby girl was born in November with a heart ailment, and this surgery is her second.

“Whatever it takes, I don’t have a problem,” Cora said. “Have to take care of that first. We’re behind him. I think everybody is.”