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Pablo Sandoval is right back to switch-hitting

With a rejuvenated righthanded swing, Pablo Sandoval could do the type of damage at Fenway Park the Red Sox envisioned when they signed him. Jim Davis/Globe staff/File 2016/Globe Staff

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Pablo Sandoval said he spent all offseason trying to refine his righthanded swing, which he abandoned last season.

The Red Sox signed Sandoval to a five-year, $95 million deal largely because he was a switch-hitter and he could take advantage of the Monster with his righthanded stroke. But that hasn’t developed.

Two seasons ago, Sandoval hit .199 as a righthanded batter against lefthanded pitching. Last year, Sandoval’s first with the Sox, that number fell to .049 (2 for 41), and he gave up batting righthanded.

He set out to change that. On Saturday, he hit a towering double off the left-field wall against Marlins lefthander Chris Narveson. He can feel his confidence building.

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“It’s exciting,” Sandoval said. “Especially when you work hard in the offseason. All the work you put together in the offseason came through. I’m more calm now. Not jumpy. I’m letting the ball come to me. I’m not jumping around. My hands are with my body now. I can stay back. I have the opportunity to separate my hands.”

Sandoval said his righthanded swing is much different than his lefthanded swing. He said he’s more of a “contact hitter” when batting righthanded and more of a power hitter lefthanded.

He now hopes to get to the point where he can say, “I can’t wait to face a lefty.”

Owens needs work

Manager John Farrell didn’t seem pleased with certain aspects of Henry Owens’s 2⅔ -inning start Saturday, in which he allowed four runs, two hits, and four walks while striking out three.

Owens said a couple of breaking balls were thrown to get a feel for them in tough situations, but Farrell countered that Owens should be pitching as if he’s trying to make the team, especially with Eduardo Rodriguez questionable for the Opening Day roster.

“I thought today was an important learning lesson for Henry,” Farrell said. “And to go out and establish your fastball a little bit more than today. I thought he pitched with his secondary pitches maybe a little too frequently, fell behind in some counts, uncharacteristic number of walks in the first couple of innings.

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“He’s competing for a spot, and that’s not to say you don’t take the opportunity to work on individual pitches. But in this particular case, I think it’s important to establish his strengths, which are fastball and changeup. And work in your other secondary pitches when needed. I don’t want to take away the opportunity to work on things, but I think in Henry’s case to go out and compete and show that you’re worthy of a spot in this rotation particularly in light of where E-Rod is, then that would be the preference.”

Farrell wouldn’t say that Steven Wright would be the fifth starter if Rodriguez doesn’t break camp with the team, but he did say, “Steven’s got an opportunity to be one of our starters. When you put together a staff that has the depth we’ve been able to put together, whether it’s Steven or Henry Owens or Roenis Elias or Brian Johnson, we’ve got options in-house.

“I think competition is the best thing we can create or gets created inside of a spring training. There’s a number of guys that are seeing opportunities and making the most of it.

“So there’s a lot of discussion over these last three weeks that are going to take place internally.”

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Castillo draws praise

Farrell had Rusney Castillo lead off and play center field Saturday. Castillo went 1 for 3 and is hitting .316 this spring (6 for 19). Farrell said Castillo’s “timing is becoming more consistent. He’s having a good spring so far.” Farrell also said he’d like to give Chris Young some time in center field . . . Farrell has been impressed with Dustin Pedroia’s fitness. “He’s had very good range early in camp,” Farrell said. “He’s come in a little bit more lean than last year. He’s in great shape. It shows up with first-step quickness and lateral range on his glove side in balls in camp so far. Whether or not he heard some things in the offseason; there’s people saying he’s changing with his career. He’s making sure he stays in the best shape possible and doesn’t lose range.” . . . Former Cubs closer Carlos Marmol is in camp as a non-roster invitee. “He’s looked very good,” Farrell said. “He threw some breaking balls underneath a lefthanded swing. He’s gone back to his delivery from years back when he was with Chicago.” . . . Hanley Ramirez, who homered Saturday and had an uneventful day at first base, drew praise from Farrell. “All around, he’s playing with good energy,” the manager said. “His work has been very consistent. I think the fact that he’s at first base, that he’s back in the flow of the game a little bit more regularly, has helped in some ways inside of a given game, but right from the first day of camp his swing has been very consistent, it’s been compact. He takes a good fastball in and hits it well out of the ballpark. So he’s in a pretty good place right now.”

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Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.