FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Are the Red Sox beginning to have a change of heart on the topic of Jackie Bradley Jr. making the Opening Day roster?
      
Perhaps.
      
Bradley has had a sensational camp, hitting .457 with the best on-base percentage (.568) of any player in the Grapefruit League. He's also shown himself to be an elite outfielder with good instincts.
      
Early in camp, manager John Farrell refused to rule out the possibility of Bradley making the team out of spring training, but before long, the organization, privately, came to a decision that, for a variety of reasons, Bradley would be better off opening the year in the minors.
      
Now, circumstances may be changing the Red Sox' thinking. The loss of David Ortiz, who is certain to start the year on the DL, and the pending loss of shortstop Stephen Drew (concussion), who hasn't been cleared to return to baseball activity, have robbed two lefthanded bats from the lineup.
      
The Sox would prefer to have Bradley open the year in Pawtucket, if for no other reason than to control him for another year before free agency arrives.
      
One Red Sox official, asked of the possibility of Bradley cracking the 25-man roster at the start of the season, said: "I guess the best way to put it is: The door's not locked. It may not even be cracked open, but it's not locked, either."
      
Translation: The Sox are holding out such a move as at least a possibility.
      
"That's a hell of question," said Farrell when asked about Bradley Sunday morning. "We've got two weeks to determine that. He's not on the roster right now, he'd have to be added, obviously. What the counter-move to that would be has to be factored into this. You can't deny the fact that he's having a hell of a spring training.
      
"The bottom-line thing is, with any young player, whether it's Jackie or any young position player, when they come to the big leagues, you want to make sure they get regular at-bats. If those are there, that becomes part of the equation. I think most importantly, he's doing whatever he can to impact a decision."
      
Meanwhile, Bradley goes about his business, collecting hits and making believers out of anyone who watches him play and attempting to ignore all the chatter about his immediate future.
      
"I can just tune it out," he said. "I just don't pay it any mind. I just keep playing. You can see (the speculation), but you don't necessarily have any reaction to it. You just keep playing and doing what you normally do. That's pretty much what I do."
      
Bradley said no one with the team has broached the possibility of making the team.
      
"Every day is an opportunity for me and I just take it in stride," said Bradley. "I'm excited no matter what happens. If it happens to go down, I'm still going to get my work in. I eventually want to play in the big leagues, just like everyone else, so I'm just going to keep working."
      
If nothing else, Bradley has made the Red Sox' decision tougher by his strong showing, and for now, that offers its own satisfaction.
      
"Most rookies, you want to come in here and make a good impression," he said, "just to kind of leave them something to think about. I hope I did that with my style of play, my hustling and just doing the small things. Even if I wasn't hitting so well, I want them to know I'm still going to be the same ballplayer if I wasn't hitting well. I'm going to give 100 percent effort, I'm going to hustle and I'm going to learn.''
      
Even as the Red Sox debate his readiness, Bradley is himself trying to assess where he stands.
      
"I don't know how close I am," said Bradley, "because I haven't played a (regular season) game in the big leagues, so I don't know what it's like. I just want to keep working, enjoy my time while I'm here and take out as  much as I can and use it to help my game, just learning from the veteran guys and gaining experience."