It’s been a whirlwind season for Josh Reddick, a southern Georgia boy that’s made some pretty big strides in only a couple of years of pro ball. Reddick was raking for the Portland Sea Dogs when he was called straight up to the big leagues after Jason Bay went down in July, and he’s managed to accumulate plenty of life experience this summer during his time hopping between Portland, Pawtucket and Boston.

Though he’s had to make due without his beloved Waffle House while playing in the Northeast corridor for much of this summer – and is already daydreaming of double chocolate chip pancakes when he gets home following the conclusion of the season – it’s been a year that’s given him a taste he eagerly wants more of. Reddick has sampled the big league experience in spot duty for the Red Sox, and will be working out in Fort Myers with Dusty Brown just in case anything happens to any of the players during the postseason.

That means he's one errant fastball away from potentially taking part in playoff baseball after starting the year at Double-A. Pretty heady stuff.

Reddick has big plans for bulking up and adding muscle to his athletic frame this winter, but is intent on finishing this one out string first. The 22-year-old took some time out and talked with Hacks with Haggs about life in the big leagues, his amazing family story and similarities to Kevin Youkilis that he’s trying to change.

What’s the big league experience been like for you after jumping from Double-A? JR: It’s unreal. I never realized how big everything is until I showed up here and experienced it first hand from the field and the dugout. I’d say it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life.

Have many guys talked to you about what to expect, or how to handle things? JR: Not really. I think they’re just letting me take it all in myself and see how I handle everything myself. I’ve had some pretty good confidence issues in the minors and there are issues I’ve head to deal with in my life while I was playing, so I’ve found ways to cope with things. Take a few deep breaths and step back, and just try to enjoy the game like I have for so long.

What do you take away from watching and observing players at the big league level? JR: Probably the level of competition and the intensity that these guys have every single game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody as intense as Josh Beckett when he comes in after a bad inning, or what he says is rough inning but we got out of it. He comes in and starts yelling at himself and you’re like ‘Wow’. You don’t see that kind of stuff on TV and you don’t see that kind of intensity. That’s one of the biggest things you learn at this level is to see the ways guys are going about their way competing and the intensity that they do it at.

Does that raise your intensity level? JR: I’ve always had a bunch of different emotions going through me playing this game. If I feel like I miss pitches and I get myself out in an at bat, then I’ve always shown that frustration on the field after the at bat. I’ve tried not to do that here and I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ who shows all this anger in the dugout. Just trying to see how these guys handle it and not be the loud guy in the dugout. Just come out and do your job.

Is that something that’s important to have success in the big leagues is to bottle up that emotion, and not show it in the dugout? JR: That’s been a big issue since I first signed. I had Gabe Kapler as a manager down in Greenville one of my first years, and he always used to pull me aside and tell me that I reminded him of Kevin Youkilis, who will get like that whenever he’s here. I’ve seen that so I know where he’s coming from.

It’s calmed down a lot for me because I used to hit a ball hard and get out, and I’d come in and slam my helmet and throw my bat. Now it’s like ‘Man, I hit the ball hard, but I hit it right at somebody’ or if I miss a pitch or hit a slow ground-out it’s really upsetting. But I’ve come up here and realized I don’t want to be that guy, and come up here and make Tito look bad by showing my anger back in the dugout. Especially when you never know when the camera is on you. If you need to [vent] some anger you can always go into the clubhouse or the batting cages, somewhere they can’t see you and you can take it that way.

What have you seen at the big league level that you want to take away from this experience? JR: For me, it’s basically about keeping my mouth shut and not trying to be the guy that talks too much. Just sit back and observe and watch the way these guys conduct themselves with the media and during interviews, and I’ve watched the guys walking around the locker room, and how they handle themselves. Get in, get my work done and then get out of the way for the big guys. Like if I’m about to take BP and I see five guys in front of me like David or Victor, I’ll come back in the locker room and wait and be that last guy. If they’re doing something, I’ll just be patient and wait.

Speaking of Youkilis, you seem to really have that all-out, bust your ass type hustle that he shows no matter what the score or situation in the game. Have you always been that way? JR: Yeah, that’s something I have to thank my father for. He always pounded it into my head that it’s not worth being on the field if you’re not going to give it your all. It goes back to that saying ‘leave it all on the field.’ That way you don’t wake up the next day, look in the mirror and realize that you didn’t give 100 percent. You never know when that infielder on a soft ground-ball might double-pump and you could beat it by a half-step or whatnot, and you never know if that could be the difference on a game-winning play when you bust it down the line. That’s just how I was brought up.

What’s your dad’s name? JR: Kenny Reddick.

Have you talked to him a lot about your time in Boston this summer? JR: They’ve come up to see me play in Boston, and they met me in Tampa. Our house is about six hours from Tampa, so I got to see a lot of the people from the family take it all in down there. I got to talk to him and get some stuff off my back. I talk to him pretty regularly. If not every day then every other day.

He’s coached all the way back from when I was young, and it’s amazing that I can tell him what I’m doing at the plate – like if I’m popping up -- and he knows exactly what’s wrong with my swing. He’s like ‘all right, you’ve got to keep your foot down and your down, and you’re jumping at it’ and I’m like ‘Wow’ he just loves the game and loves watching me play that much that he can break it down from hundreds of miles away.

He can break down your swing, I’m sure. Was he a ballplayer? JR: He was until shortly after I was born. He got hurt and he got electrocuted when I was a year old. He worked for the power company and he got electrocuted by a line and lost half his left arm and two fingers on his right hand. He has limited use of his fingers and no hand on his right arm, it’s just a nub. That happened five days before my first birthday, and he still had all the love of the game and taught me how to hit and play the game. It’s worked out for me.

So he passed down all of that love for the game right down to you? JR: That’s what he did. It makes for a pretty cool story because I know he has to feel an accomplishment for him to see me doing well. Because that’s a devastating injury and he’s in his mid-40s and it’s about to hit him hard. It has hit him hard already about not being able to work and get a job like normal people because he loved doing that job.

During rainstorms if it was thundering and lightning out and there was a power outage, he’d be the first guy that would want to climb that pole. He said he had a feeling of freedom up on that pole looking down on the world from way up high. It was kind of an amazing feeling. He’s coached my brother, me and my little sister and he’s still coaching my little sister in our home state.

Could you see the pride in your dad’s eye that first time he saw you play in a big league game? JR: I think it was during batting practice, actually. I saw him walking around with my brother and a bunch of his buddies, and he was kind of looking around. He didn’t say anything, but you could tell he was thinking to himself ‘wow, this is the real deal. This is a lot different than the other places I’ve been playing.’ He didn’t try to show it, but I could see it in his eyes. It’s hard to hide, and I could imagine that feeling.

Theo has talked a bit about you adding a little more “finish” to your game after watching you this season. What do you need to do this offseason? JR: I think I just need to keep working on my plate discipline, which is something that I’ve been working hard to improve during my career. I think I’ve shown improvement and getting called up is proof of that. I also need to add a little bit more weight and concentrate of hitting the gym with a purpose this winter when I’m working out. If I do that and control the anger, then I think I’ll be all right.