From a distance, in his role as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez has been able to make some especially keen observations about the Sox pitching staff — from the adjustments David Price has had to make in his first year as the club’s ace, to the challenges that Clay Buchholz has faced, to the risk and reward that came with the Sox trading away one of their top pitching prospects for Drew Pomeranz.

Martinez, who came to the Sox in 1998 after two years in Los Angeles and four in Montreal, understood everything that came with the transition to Boston.

“As a human being, I totally understand that we have to make adjustments,’’ Martinez said. “This is the first year in a team that holds a lot of expectations. So for David, it’s a matter of probably understanding how he feels comfortable around the things that he does and what David Price needs for David Price to feel more comfortable and make the adjustment as quick as possible. I believe he’s capable of — he’s been that guy a lot of times — to be the ace that we all expect. And I think, to be honest, I think he’s going to be all right. It’s just a matter of making the right adjustments and try to make them as quick as possible.’’

In the case of Buchholz, who’s struggled mightily this season, Martinez sees a man in some ways without a country.

“Bucky lost a little bit of confidence, that’s how it looks to me,’’ Martinez said. “Right now, he doesn’t really have a path to follow. I think he’s missing [Jon] Lester big time, he’s missing [John] Lackey, he’s missing probably relating to someone just like him and that really understands him from back in those times. David Ross, Jason Varitek, guys like Bucky.

“I think he’s mature enough to kind of understand what to do, but some people just don’t have that ability to actually understand what to do when the times of struggles come.’’

Martinez was perhaps one of the most vocal supporters for prospect Anderson Espinoza when the Sox signed the Venezuelan righthander to a then-record $1.8 million two years ago. But Martinez said Espinoza’s talent and value are what allowed the Sox to land a quality starter with the hopes of making a World Series run.

“The thing is, you have to understand that this team is trying to work for today, for this year,’’ Martinez said of the All-Star break trade with the Padres. “And that’s the reason you produce those kinds of players, so that you can have the flexibility to move to different areas.’’

“I’m extremely proud that I was part of the people that saw Espinoza for the first time and that hopefully now the trade we made for him is going to end up helping us to win a championship and Espinoza will probably feel really proud that if we win it this year, he was probably the biggest reason.’’

Kelly shifts gears

Coming out of the bullpen for the first time in three years admittedly took some getting used to for Joe Kelly.

When Sox manager John Farrell called on him in the seventh inning of the Sox’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers on Monday, the adrenaline rush was different. He had to warm up faster than he had in years. Even the prep before the game was different. He didn’t have five days to study opposing hitters the way he typically did as a starter.

And even with what he did glean from his advance scouting, once he took the mound, he wasn’t looking at a leadoff hitter. He was facing the Tigers’ No. 6 hitter, Justin Upton.

“My first time out of the pen, I didn’t do any scouting really on their hitters besides the stuff you do as a bullpen guy in the pregame meetings,’’ said Kelly, who gave up a run on two hits in an inning of work.

“Usually as a starter, you can sit down and watch a couple days, see what the hitters are doing right now, what hitters are hot, what hitters are not. But obviously you’ve got to have different approaches against these guys coming out of the bullpen.

“Guys that have a little bit of velocity, the hitters in this league are going to be looking for that. So, it’s going to be a learning process.’’

Kelly was confident that the process wouldn’t be a long one. Still, for all the differences in his new role, what will make or break Kelly is still the same. With an electric (but hittable) fastball, he’ll have to use his secondary pitches.

On Monday, Kelly went to his heater on 13 of his 21 pitches. His fastball reached 100 miles per hour four times, but the velocity didn’t stop Upton from tripling on a 100 mile-per-hour heater and James McCann from roping an RBI single on one that clocked in at 99.

“The same thing applies in this role as it did while he was starting,’’ Farrell said. “His need to use the secondary pitches exists. That’s going to always be a part of Joe’s plan for success — that he can’t rely just on velocity because as we’ve seen, the swing-and-miss rate is low despite upper-90s to 100 miles an hour. It’s all a part of Joe understanding who he is as a pitcher and the use of secondary pitches is going to be key.’’

Looking ahead, Kelly said his slider will be a pitch he’ll have to lean on more to keep hitters off balance and keep hitters from sitting on his fastball.

“There’s going to be that fine line of coming out of the bullpen and flirting with what the velocity’s like and then flirting with what the situation calls for with locating balls,’’ he said.

“[The slider] might be a pitch I need to probably throw a little bit more out of the pen. If I have to throw it five times an at-bat, I’ll have to just to make the fastball play up that much more.’’

On Tuesday, Kelly was summoned with the bases loaded and two away in the seventh and the Sox trailing by a run. The righthander made quick work of Ian Kinsler, who flied to center on the first pitch.

Swihart on mend

Blake Swihart (sprained left ankle) has been increasing activity, but he’s still at least a week away from starting a rehab assignment, Farrell said. “When he first increased the intensity, there was some residual discomfort in just getting past some of the increased change in direction, straightahead speed,’’ said Farrell. “So while he’s making progress, he’s not ready to go out on a rehab assignment.’’ . . . Farrell called Chris Young’s progress “gradual’’ in more than a month since he strained his right hamstring. He’s hitting in the cage and on the field, but he’s still hasn’t gotten to the point where he can run at a full sprint. Young will travel with the team Thursday when it starts its 11-game road trip through Anaheim, Seattle, and Los Angeles . . . Ryan Hanigan was scratched before the game because of flu-like symptoms and replaced in the lineup by Sandy Leon.

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.