FORT MYERS, Fla. —Eduardo Rodriguez crumbled to the ground Saturday morning after getting his spikes stuck in the grass while fielding a popup, but it appears the Red Sox’ prized young lefthander has avoided a major injury to his right knee.

Rodriguez, who admitted he was scared when he first went down, said he was experiencing no pain or swelling, but it would be monitored over the next 24 hours.

“It was scary because I thought I broke my knee,’’ Rod­riguez said. “But it’s fine now. I was doing a drill with fly balls and went to the side to go get a ball, and fell a little bit and twisted my knee a little bit. They’ll follow it tomorrow to see how it is. They tested it and said it was pretty good.’’

The incident happened on Field 6 of the JetBlue Park complex.

“Yeah, I was worried because when you go down you think it’s something bad,’’ Rod­riguez said.

He said he thought the worst: “I’m not gonna pitch again, I’m gonna have to wait a long time. But now I’m fine.’’

Red Sox manager John Farrell said that the trainers tested the knee and were “unable to reproduce any type of discomfort.’’

Farrell said Rodriguez is not scheduled for any further testing.

Kimbrel impresses

Craig Kimbrel threw an impressive live batting practice session. He showed high velocity as he threw with Farrell, Torey Lovullo, Dave Dombrowski, Frank Wren, and members of the scouting staff looking on.

Kimbrel’s velocity wasn’t his best, but it looked low- to mid-90s, and was mixed with a good curveball.

“He’s got such unique ability with his fastball,’’ Farrell commented. “It’s impressive to see the ability he has with it. When he’s up on top of the strike zone with it he gets a lot of strikeouts. I thought for a controlled bullpen setting he was crisp. With each outing you see increased arm strength and power. Excited to see him in a game situation.’’

In the offseason, Dombrowski also inquired on the availability of the Reds’ Aroldis Chapman (now with the Yankees).

Chapman’s cost was going to be prohibitive and was clouded by the closer’s domestic-abuse incident, so the Red Sox changed course and went exclusively for Kimbrel.

Wren, while the general manager in Atlanta, worked with Kimbrel and recommended that the Padres’ closer would be a perfect fit in Boston.

Kimbrel has been compared with lefthander Billy Wagner because of their short builds, powerful fastballs, and excellent curveballs.

Kimbrel, who is making his first foray into the American League, is certainly influenced by the moment of the game in the ninth inning, a moment that seemed to be missing last year with the struggling Padres.

Elias shines

The other impressive showing was put in by Roenis Elias, the lefthander who was obtained in the Carson Smith/Wade Miley deal with Seattle.

Elias, 27, has a shot at making Boston’s bullpen, or he could be part of a three-lefty starting rotation in Pawtucket.

Elias was 5-8 with a 4.14 ERA in 22 games (20 starts) for Seattle in 2015. He has impressed with his ability to change arm slots and give hitters different looks.

Elias was impressive pitching batting practice and could be someone to watch in camp.

“As you watch him in a competitive environment, he starts to stand out so you can see the creativeness come out of him,’’ Farrell said. “You see the various arm slots, the spin on his breaking ball from multiple angles. You see where his savvy stands out in certain situations.’’

Elias was born in Guantanamo, Cuba, and faced Rusney Castillo there.

The Red Sox will have two lefties in the rotation (Rodriguez, David Price) and likely three lefties in the Pawtucket rotation (Elias, Henry Owens, and Brian Johnson). That may come in handy in the American League East, with its number of good lefthanded hitters.

Parent’s weekend

Joe Kelly, who missed the early part of camp as he awaited the birth of a new baby, will be given one more day to pitch out of the bullpen before he starts facing live hitters in batting practice.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.