FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Adam Ottavino has spent the past several years carving up opposing hitters in the late innings.

However, he has seldom had the chance to be the guy in the ninth.

That opportunity could finally be upon him again.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora hasn’t named a closer yet, but it figures to be Ottavino or Matt Barnes.

Three days after Barnes, Boston’s longest-tenured bullpen member by a lot, made a strong first audition, Ottavino -- acquired in a rare rivalry trade with the Yankees in the offseason -- did the same.

Facing the Braves, Ottavino mowed down three of the four batters he faced, two on strikeouts, in Boston’s 5-3 victory.

In 460 career relief appearances, Ottavino has 19 saves, never more than seven in a season.

“It would be great,” said Ottavino. “The last time that I had the [closer] job was right before I got hurt in 2015 and a little bit in 2016 when I came back. It was exciting. I really enjoyed it. It’s not something that I feel like is a must for me. It’s something I would definitely embrace. If Alex gives me the ball in the ninth I’ll definitely be pumped up about that.”

Cora hasn’t provided many hints about which of the two veteran righties will be his closer.

But he did say on Wednesday that he will use Ottavino in clean innings rather than to bring him in to get a righty out in the middle of a rally.

“This guy has been dominant over the course of his career. Hard worker, very structured with everything he does here,” said Cora. “It was a down year for him [last year], but you guys know the story, so I don’t have to go into it. Small sample-size season. He had one bad inning. I talked to him a little bit early in camp. Like I said, we’re not going to name a closer until later on, but one thing for sure, we’re going to give him the ball for clean innings, and he’s going to face lefties and righties. We trust him.”

Getting that brief taste of closing five years ago was, in some ways, a tease for Ottavino. He would relish the chance to prove he can do it over a full season.

“I think the biggest thing is you’re pretty much starting clean 80 percent of the time,” Ottavino said. “You might finish off the eighth once in a while. For the most part you’re starting clean in the ninth. You know exactly what it’s going to take to get the job done whether you’re up by one or three or whatever the case may be so you kind of pitch to the scoreboard a little bit that way and just try to do your job for the team.

“I’m sure I would get a lot more pinch-hitters probably lefties, that sort of thing. I’ve done it before. I think the biggest thing is just attacking that first guy and putting yourself in a good position for success.”

The ultimate professional, Ottavino will tackle whatever role Cora gives to him.

“I think regardless of role, I’m looking forward to putting together a great season not only for myself but for the team,” Ottavino said.

Houck, ‘eye opening’, dials it up
Tanner Houck, Boston’s No. 7 prospect, had the rebound outing of the spring.

After retiring just two batters and walking five in his first outing on March 4 against the Orioles, the righty was overpowering on Wednesday against the Braves. Over three innings, Houck gave up a hit and a walk while striking out three. He also showed more life on his fastball than perhaps ever before, hitting 96-97 routinely on the radar gun and topping out at 98.

“I saw him pitch last year, and I noticed he was 92, 93. With his movement, I thought that was good enough,” said Cora. “But now, you see 96, 97, it’s eye-opening. But at the end of the day, we still have to throw strikes. And he did today. You saw the results. He’s still getting better. He still works at it. He’s still buying the concept and throwing strikes and inducing weak contact, which is very important. It’s just a matter of keep attacking the strike zone with what he has.”

Where did the added zip on the fastball come from?

“Honestly, just a lot of working hard in the offseason,” Houck said. “Continuing to strengthen my body, whether it’s legs, core, getting in the training room doing a lot of shoulder program. Just staying on top of that different stuff, it definitely makes a difference in the long run, so I would say that’s the biggest key.”

Houck dazzled in a late-season cameo last season, going 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA. With no current spot open in the rotation for Houck, Cora was asked if he would consider the talented righty for a bullpen role.

The answer? No.

“I think we’ve been through that road as an organization, right, for the last 15 years, and we’re considering him as a starter,” said Cora.

That means Houck will most likely start the season in the rotation for Triple-A Worcester.

Dalbec’s slam
Aside from the pitching performances of Ottavino and Houck, the highlight of Wednesday was one swing by Bobby Dalbec which resulted in a mammoth grand slam that soared over the replica Green Monster in left field.

It was the fourth homer of Spring Training for the rookie first baseman, who is ranked No. 3 among Red Sox prospects by MLB Pipeline.

“When he makes contact it’s loud and the ball goes far so [I’m] glad he was able to do it there with the bases loaded, and it’s 1-for-3, two strikeouts, one hit four RBIs so as long as he knows there’s certain situations we need to make contact, we’re good and he knows it,” said Cora. “We work on it and it’s going to be fine.”

Raffy slaps around the leather
Rafael Devers and defense are a constant talking point. The Red Sox need him to be more consistent at the hot corner.

In Wednesday’s game, he made a superb diving stop and fired to first from a prone position to get the out. But that wasn’t what caught Cora’s eye.

“For how much I like that one, I like the two routine ones, and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Cora. “The good ones, they make great plays, but they don’t miss the routine one. We’re talking about [Manny] Machado and [Nolan] Arenado. We love the highlights as baseball fans, but on a daily basis, they don’t miss those [routine plays], and he did a good job today.”

Devers also took a sweet swing against talented Braves lefty Max Fried, hammering an RBI double off the Monster in left-center.

Franchy sighting
At last, Red Sox outfielder Franchy Cordero has cleared all Covid-19 protocols and will be a full participant in Thursday’s team workout.

Cordero, who was placed on the Covid-19 injured list at the start of camp, has been in Fort Myers for over a week but took a while to pass every test he needed to.

The left-handed hitter, acquired from the Royals in the trade for Andrew Benintendi, will have to avoid any other setbacks to have a chance to be ready for Opening Day.

Up next
Lefty ace Eduardo Rodriguez will try to build off his strong first outing of Spring Training when he takes the ball on Thursday at Hammond Stadium against the Braves. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET. Rodriguez didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to myocarditis.