By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET – The Pawtucket Red Sox’ starting rotation has been reconfigured in such a fashion that it will make Saturday’s “Futures at Fenway” game even more of a must-see event.
Junichi Tazawa, the highly touted Japanese pitching prospect, will get the nod when Pawtucket and Norfolk set foot on the Fenway stage. It will be latest in a series of “firsts” for the 23-year-old, who signed with Boston last December and started 2009 in Double-A Portland.
Tazawa was informed of the news following Sunday’s outing in Scranton (two runs in 5 1/3 innings). It was originally believed he would pitch for the first time at McCoy Stadium this Friday, but the turn will instead go to left-hander Kris Johnson.
A lot has been thrown at Tazawa in the four-plus months he’s pitched professionally on the other side of world, ranging from working in the Portland chill to having his appearance at the Futures’ Game at the All-Star gala in St. Louis scraped because of poor weather. Early returns on his “Americanization” have been extremely positive, buoyed by the nine wins and 2.57 ERA he ended his Eastern League stay with.
Tazawa, speaking through interpreter Masaki Kubo, admits that he’s still acclimating himself to his new surroundings, so much so that he hasn’t given too much thought of what potentially awaits Saturday.
“I’m just concentrating on my adjustment [with the PawSox], so I don’t have a special mindset right now,” said Tazawa. “I’m just focusing on my performance.
“This wasn’t a goal, more like a step,” was Tazawa’s response when asked if he thought if he would wind up with the PawSox at some point this season.
Tazawa has been able to keep the good times rolling since his promotion to Triple-A. He’s allowed four runs in two starts, spanning 11 1/3 innings, with six strikeouts and one walk. Those sterling numbers have overshadowed the fact the PawSox have scored one lone run for him.
“I’m facing hitters [in Triple-A] that have a lot of experience, which has forced me to concentrate more,” said Tazawa. “Things have gone well so far.”
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Michael Bowden wasn’t immune to his name being bandied about in trade rumors. His best way to cope with the period of uncertainty was to have a little fun with it.
“People were joking around, saying bye and telling me to pack up my stuff,” said Bowden, the owner of a 2.96 ERA. “I didn’t worry about the whole process, but I was relieved that I wasn’t going anywhere.”
With Justin Masterson now property of Cleveland, Boston currently finds itself in the market for a long man out of the bullpen. Bowden could emerge as an option, even though his dealings pitching in relief have been limited.
“I’d be more than happy to,” said Bowden if opportunity knocked. “Whatever I need to get back up to (Boston), I’ll do it.”
Bowden mentioned he reached out to Masterson. “I sent him a text wishing him all the luck in the world. I’m going to miss him. I didn’t expect a text back. He is probably extremely busy getting situated. I was talking to [reliever Daniel] Bard on Sunday and mentioned I’ll probably give Justin a call in a week when things settle down.”
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It’s a little weird referencing Jeff Bailey as a “rehabber,” given his long tenure with the PawSox, but that was his classification Monday. The first baseman/outfielder began a rehab assignment after landing on Boston’s disabled list July 5 with a left ankle sprain.
Bailey served as Pawtucket’s designated hitter last night, hitting leadoff. He’ll assume the same two roles today before taking Wednesday off. Bailey’s first game in the field should come Thursday.
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Yesterday saw Pawtucket add reliever Marcus McBeth, who spent the weekend in Baltimore in an emergency role. To make room catcher Carlos Maldonado was reinstated from the DL, then released.