Youkilis on a power trip

MLB. When Kevin Youkilis drilled a pitch from Salomon Torres over the Green Monster in the seventh inning Sunday, it was another sign to Sox skipper Terry Francona of just how far the “Greek God of Walks” has come as a big-league hitter.

Youkilis entered last night’s game against the Royals second on the team with nine home runs, one behind David Ortiz and one ahead of Manny Ramirez.

Youkilis was known through his college days at the University of Cincinnati and in the Red Sox system as a player who would do whatever it takes to work his way on base — so much so, he was was given his nickname, which found its way into the noted Michael Lewis book “Moneyball.”

“His first spring, he pulled one ball hard,” Francona said of his first look at Youkilis in 2004. “He hit one ball up in Sarasota in the gap, and I remembered we were kind of tickled. He’s come a long way. He’s really a professional hitter.”

The 29-year-old is enjoying his best season yet, not only maintaining a .329 average and a .398 on-base percentage heading into last night, but now hitting for power. 

“He’s not seen as many pitches this year,” Francona said. “He’s seen pitches he likes and he’s been aggressive but he’s put the barrel of the bat on the ball a lot. He’s still hitting the ball to right field and center field. I think there’s a difference between that and hitting 25 to 30 home runs and not be able to do much with anything else.”

Youkilis was named A.L. Player of the Week for the first week of May, slugging five homers in seven games.

“Where that leads him, nobody knows,” Francona said. “I don’t want to sit here and try to put numbers on him and stuff like that. That’s not going to work. He just needs to have his at-bats and whatever he grows into, we’ll take.”