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Jeff Corsaletti

Jeff Corsaletti swung at a 2-0 change-up and hit nothing but air.

Sitting in the Hadlock Field box seats, Boston Red Sox Director of Player Development Mike Hazen nodded his approval.

"That is exactly what we've been talking about for him to do," Hazen said.

Swing and miss?

Well, not exactly.

What the Red Sox want Corsaletti to do is swing more.

Contrary to the belief that the Red Sox force their hitters to watch pitch after pitch, they do believe in using the bat.

And in Corsaletti's case, the Red Sox want that bat coming off his shoulder.

In 73 games, Corsaletti, a 25-year-old left fielder, is doing that. He's batting .304 with 11 home runs. On Wednesday, he'll make his second straight appearance in the Eastern League All-Star Game in Manchester, N.H.

Corsaletti batted .245 through the same number of games last year, with only two home runs.

"Last year I was kind of hesitant to pull the trigger, almost looking for a walk," Corsaletti said.

Corsaletti focused too much at his walk/strikeout ratio. He wanted to get on base and hated to go down swinging.

But walks alone do not get you out of Double-A ball, let alone to the majors.

"He's got plus-plate discipline which, as you know, is something we value in the organization," Hazen said. "But he's got to let the power show, too. We don't think he's going to sacrifice all his plate discipline by letting the power show a little bit.

"You've seen the production really increase. That's the type of player, as a corner outfielder, he's going to have to be."

So when Corsaletti gets a 2-0 pitch, he does not have walks on his mind.

"Now the focus is when you get into advantage counts, 2-0 and 3-1, to just really drive the ball," Corsaletti said. "I'm not worried about walks. I'm not worried about strikeouts. I'm worrying about hitting that advantage pitch. If the pitcher makes a mistake, I want to capitalize on it."

Corsaletti is striking out more -- 56 times through 73 games, as opposed to 37 times at the same point last year.

But his home runs are up, as are his doubles (19 from 10), triples (4 from 1) and RBI (47 from 32).

And Corsaletti is still selective, with more walks this year (50 from 42).

Corsaletti is second in the league in the all-important OPS (.929) -- the combination of slugging percentage (.518) and on-base percentage (.411).

Corsaletti seems more aggressive even as a left fielder, catching more balls against the wall.

"He's turned himself into a pretty good left fielder," Hazen said. "He's made a lot of improvements in the areas we asked him to make improvements on."

On that list -- attitude. Last year, Corsaletti let things affect him. When he was named to the All-Star team last year in late June, he was batting .303. It went downhill from there, including a .212 average in August. He finished at .266 with six homers.

"I just wore down mentally," Corsaletti said. "You start worrying about other stuff, like how many at-bats I was going to get.

"Last year, I didn't feel really comfortable. Everyone talks about player development, player development all it really is, is maturity as a player."

Corsaletti is on the upside of the minor league roller coaster.

His ride began as a sixth-round draft pick in 2005. He bypassed the usual stop in short-season Lowell and moved to lower Class A Greenville, where he batted .357 in 59 games.

Then, as Corsaletti puts it, he got passive at the plate. He batted .264 in advanced Class A in 2006. His teammate, Jacoby Ellsbury, got promoted to Portland.

In 2007, Corsaletti began strong in Portland but faded. Another outfielder from the 2005 draft, Bubba Bell, reached Portland and was tagged a prospect, getting an invite to the exclusive Red Sox rookie camp in the offseason. Corsaletti stayed home.

"I really trained...