BOSTON -- Without question, there are plenty of concerns with the Red Sox. The injuries continue to mount. The offense has been inconsistent. Forty percent of the original starting rotation is either in the minors or on the disabled list. And now there are reports of clubhouse toxicity.

But as long as he can stay healthy, nobody need worry about the second baseman.

It’s true that Dustin Pedroia entered Tuesday night’s game against Miami batting .268, with a .726 on-base plus slugging mark and only five homers — 34 points, 102 points and 10 blasts below his career averages for a full season.

Though those numbers are actually just about where Pedroia has historically been through his first 60 games of each year, and if Tuesday’s aggravation of a recent thumb injury doesn’t turn out to be anything serious, it may only be a matter of time before he starts heating up and — to put it in his own inimitable lexicon — the laser show begins.

The second baseman’s struggles at the start of his rookie year have been well documented since 2007, but by this same point that season he’d figured things out. In fact, it’s the only year in which through 60 games he’s had an average better than .289 or an OPS better than .756.

Worse — much worse — was his start the next season. Through 60 tilts, Pedroia was hitting .276, was reaching base at just a .317 clip, and his OPS was .705 after hitting only four homers. But all he did from that point forward was hit .357 with a .969 OPS, rip 13 homers and score 84 runs.

Add it all up and he was the American League’s Most Valuable Player.

A couple years later, Pedroia was slumping again at game 60, hitting just .255 — then 13 games later his average was up to .273. Last year he was at .255 at this juncture — then proceeded to hit .346 with a 1.104 OPS over the next month.

So, it stands to reason, there could be a streak coming soon. And though his night ended with Pedroia shaking his hand after splintering his bat on a seventh-inning swing, there were signs earlier Tuesday that his warming may be under way. Pedroia had only two extra-base hits between May 14 and June 16, yet when he took Mark Buehrle off the wall in left-center in his first at-bat on Tuesday, he gave himself his second double in two games.

Later in the frame he came around to score on a rocket launched to the right-field seats by David Ortiz. His 17th homer leading to his 44th and 45th RBIs, the shot further separated the designated hitter from everybody else in a discussion of who’s been Boston’s MVP to this point in the campaign.

But when it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised if the second baseman has played his way into that discussion, as well.

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BEFORE the game, the Red Sox got their first chance to respond to an ESPN report claiming their clubhouse is a “toxic” place, with several players agreeing with Cody Ross’ assessment that the report was a “comical” account.

“Completely fabricated,” said starting pitcher Josh Beckett. “I don’t know where people get that from. I think people want that to be the case, and I don’t think that it is. This is probably one of the tightest-knit groups that I’ve been around, with dinners on the road, we had a couple family trips here this last time. We do a lot of stuff together. There’s a good continuity here.”

Individually, Beckett said an MRI showed no structural damage in his inflamed shoulder, and he felt he could’ve made a couple more starts before the All-Star break, but the team opted for a more cautious route by sending him to the DL. But in speaking to the media for the first time in weeks, his strongest comments were in sticking up for his team.

“People are trying to sabotage us. I don’t think that’s good at all,” Beckett said. “We don’t pay too much attention to it. The only time we have to deal with it is when we have to answer questions. This is a really good group of guys. It’s one of the tighter groups I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve been a part of some pretty tight groups.”

Bobby Valentine defended the culture, too. “It’s a bunch of guys who get dressed and play loud music before the game and seem to get ready,” the manager said. “I don’t have a word for it. I don’t think it’s ‘Romper Room’ or whatever it is; it’s a lot of guys. It’s a lot of men who hang out together, and a lot of changing parts in there, too.”

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AFTER fracturing a bone in his left foot, and spending a month on the disabled list, Ross returned to the Sox lineup on Tuesday. To make room on the roster, the club sent Scott Podsednik to the DL after the outfielder tweaked his groin on Sunday in Chicago. Ross played left field, batting seventh against left-hander Buehrle.

Jacoby Ellsbury, meanwhile, took batting practice and ran the bases before the game — both encouraging signs as he rehabilitates a shoulder injury.

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WHEN Buehrle faced the Sox last week in Miami, Valentine elected to sit Ortiz against the southpaw. The designated hitter took the opportunity Tuesday to show why that might’ve been a bad idea. He followed his first-inning homer with a lined single to left, those first two at-bats lifting him to .367 against the ex-White Sox for his career.

One call Valentine did make correctly in both Buehrle appearances was starting Kelly Shoppach. A week after doubling twice against him, the catcher homered in his first trip Tuesday — at the time giving him four homers and six extra-base hits in 18 plate appearances versus the veteran.

Dave D’Onofrio covers the Red Sox for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is ddonof13@gmail.com.