By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET –Jeff Natale has burnished his reputation by reaching base by any means necessary. His career on-base percentage (.436 heading into this season) suggests as much.
While the 26-year-old Natale, who grew up in Connecticut with Red Sox fans to his right and Yankees admirers looking over his left shoulder, knows the value of making it to first base, he is also a relative unknown. Showing off his plate discipline and meticulous approach at the dish is hard when you’re logging time once every couple of days, but things could finally be looking up for Natale.
Natale was in the lineup for the second straight game Sunday, collecting one hit while serving as Pawtucket’s designated hitter. The roster has undergone a bevy of changes since the PawSox opened the season 11 days ago, the roster shuffling including five members of the Opening Day lineup who are no longer active. All the comings and goings have cracked the door open for Natale, now in line for something other than spot duty.
“So far I’ve been swinging (the wood) well, which has allowed me to crack the lineup more often than I originally thought,” said Natale, now batting .333 (7-for-24). “I’ve just got to keep having good at-bats so hopefully more will come.”
As Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson remarked, Natale deserves a chance to show what he can do on a regular basis. He’s impressed the skipper in the limited time Johnson has steered his direction, particularly last season when Natale was stuck on the depth chart behind infielders Joe Thurston, Keith Ginter and Gil Velazquez.
“The guy can hit and is always giving quality at-bats,” praised Johnson. “I put him in some tough situations as a hitter because of the people we had. He went 5-for-5 one game than sat the next three days.”
Johnson admitted he thrust Natale into an unfathomable position Friday night. A second baseman by trade, Natale subbed in for Sean Danielson in the eighth inning, stepping into a bases loaded/two-out scenario and Pawtucket trailing Lehigh Valley by a run. Natale made solid contact, lifting a deep fly ball to left field that was knocked down by wind.
That, in a nutshell, is the life of a player who’s asked to turn on the power on at a moment’s notice, only to bide his time for the next turn to grace his lap. Flipping the switch is a skill Natale, like it or not, has grown accustomed to.
Yet he doesn’t work himself in a frenzied state by adding extra pressure.  Enough of that exists just by being a part of the Red Sox organization, says Natale.
“You just have to have good at-bats; it’s not all about getting hits. It’s about doing jobs, whether that’s moving runners along,” explains Natale. “Guys aren’t here to play in Triple-A baseball, they are here to play in the big leagues.”
Johnson related Natale’s plight to what Jeff Bailey experienced when he managed the I.L.’s reigning Most Valuable Player in Double-A Portland (2004) and in Pawtucket the following season.
“(Bailey) was getting sporadic starts, but he could come into a game and square around on a fastball,” said Johnson. “That helped him down the road.” 
With much of the prospect attention in the Red Sox farm system recently being paid to Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard and Lars Anderson, Natale has quietly gone about his business, stringing together a solid pro career to date. He was named the Red Sox’ Minor League Player of the Year in 2006, batting .304 with 17 home runs and 87 RBI between two Single-A affiliates, Greenville and Wilmington.
Then came last season, which saw Natale struggle with injuries and limited time when he was healthy. He was out of action for 3 ½ months with a fractured left forearm, the unfortunate consequence of getting hit with a pitch. For someone who’s never been shy about hanging his body out over the dish (think David Eckstein), the setback was a bitter pill Natale had no choice but to swallow.
Natale was tested in another sense upon his reinstatement to the PawSox in late July. Though there was room for him on the active roster, the same could not be said position-wise. A product of Division III Trinity (Conn.) College, Natale scrambled to amass 62 at-bats over the season’s final month. Staying sharp was the only thing he could do while waiting for Johnson to pencil his name in the lineup.    
“Extra batting practice, visualizing some stuff,” said Natale about how he passes the time.
Natale is one of the few PawSox hitters able to weather a chilly start. Already he’s amassed three two-hit games, one coming Saturday when he stroked a double and collected two RBI. Johnson says he plans to find work for the Nutmeg State native at first base and the outfield because “his bats plays.”
Translation: more playing time steered in Natale’s direction.