The man stood by Josh Reddick, teaching. He was missing half of his left arm, and had only three fingers on his right hand, but he showed Josh Reddick how to hit a baseball.

The lesson concerned fundamentals and being aggressive.

"If you see a pitch you like, go after it," Reddick was told during those daily sessions in the backyard of his home in Guyton, Ga.

Reddick listened well to his father, learning baseball and a boatload of lessons about life.

"My dad is a major influence in my life," said Reddick, 21, the Portland Sea Dogs center fielder.

Kenny Reddick was maimed on the job while working on a power line when Josh was 1. The accident did not stop him from spending time with his sons, including running those baseball drills.

In the aftermath of those lessons, Josh Reddick has used talent and hard work to transform himself from being an unknown 17th-round draft pick in 2006 to becoming one of the top outfield prospects of the Boston Red Sox.

"The ball explodes off his bat," said Sea Dogs hitting coach Dave Joppie.

In the outfield, Reddick runs down balls and throws runners out. He recorded 19 outfield assists last year and already has 22 this season, which included stops at Class A Greenville and Lancaster.

With all the Red Sox like about Reddick, they are tweaking his approach at the plate.

It's a case of the aggressive Reddick joining a club that tells its hitters to be patient.

"They preached it to me about going up there and working the count," Reddick said. "They want me to see pitches that I would normally swing at, and just let them go by."

When Reddick says this, a slight disdain comes through. Letting a hittable pitch go by?

"It's been a slow process for me, and frustrating," Reddick said. "It's nothing I've been accustomed to my whole life."

Boston wants Reddick to learn the difference between a hittable pitch and one he can really swat.

"It's a subtle adjustment that will happen over time," said Ben Cherington, Boston's vice president in charge of player personnel. "We're not changing what Josh Reddick is as a hitter. He's wired aggressively. We're not looking to change that and nor should he. It's just a subtle adjustment of recognizing those pitches he can really drive – be aggressive on those pitches and be willing to wait for those pitches to come."

Reddick said he is trying the approach, and he is actually drawing more walks – 10 in 24 games with Portland after drawing 17 in his previous 76.

"But in the last month, I've seen my average drop big-time," he said.

True, Reddick arrived in Portland on July 20 with a career .323 pro average. Through Friday's game, he was hitting .265 with the Sea Dogs.

But Reddick's numbers are rising. He was hitting .180 on Aug. 9. In the past 10 games, he's batting .394, with four home runs.

"His tools are pretty good," Sea Dogs Manager Arnie Beyeler said. "He's not that smooth, polished guy you look at. He's still a young kid. He goes after it and just plays hard."

Reddick, 6-foot-1 and a wiry 180 pounds, was drafted out of Middle Georgia College and initially turned down a five-figure offer from the Red Sox. Reddick then played in a wooden-bat league that summer. His team faced Team USA in an exhibition. Reddick hit a home run off Ross Detwiler, who would become the sixth-overall draft pick by Washington in 2007.

"A lot of scouts were at the game," Reddick said with a smile. If Boston would not sign him, someone would want him next year. The Red Sox did not risk that, and signed him for $140,000.

Wherever the Red Sox have sent Reddick, he's hit the ball.

"Josh has extraordinary hand-eye coordination," Joppie said. "That, in some cases, can work against a hitter, because they feel they can hit every pitch when they're up there.

"He's a very, very aggressive hitter, which is something we'll...