FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In a camp chock full of mysteries, Jacoby Ellsbury is right at the top of the list.

The conundrum surrounding Ellsbury has little to do with what kind of performance he will turning in once the lights go on in the regular season. Sure, he doesn't have a home run or stolen base in spring training action, but, as he points out: "This is no different than preseason football. Do people look at those numbers? We're just building for the regular season."

The question in regard to the American League MVP runner-up is this: Where the heck is he going to hit?

Ask the particulars making up the equation -- Ellsbury and his new manager, Bobby Valentine -- and answers won't be forthcoming.

"We've had conversations," Valentine said. "I just want him to play well. I don't think it matters where he hits in the lineup."

"It doesn't matter where I hit," the outfielder explained. "The only time I hit leadoff is that first at-bat of the game. You need to be versatile."

Try to find a trend within the Grapefruit League games and you'll also come up empty. Ellsbury has hit leadoff six times, second on five occasions, and in the 3-hole to start three games.

It is a unique issue for a unique player.

"First off, I think he's one of the most amazing people I've been around," Valentine said. "I really enjoy his smile and his honesty. Every comment he makes is from his heart. His playing ability is special. Yeah, I think he's unique. Unique in a unique group of players. He's conscientious. He's professional."

The only hint we have gotten has been the manager's assertion that he is enamored with the idea of having a lefty-hitting batter in the No. 2 spot. It is a slot Ellsbury has manned just eight times, not having been there since 2009. And then there is the mere fact that the 28-year-old is open to hitting somewhere other than leadoff.

Go back to the last day of May in 2009, when then-manager Terry Francona took Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot after he totaled just a .274 on-base percentage against left-handed pitching. He took it hard. The lefty hitter took great pride in his ability to serve as the table-setter, and for the first time in his life he was being told he wasn't that guy. But to his credit, after nearly a month out of the top slot Ellsbury returned to hit leadoff, managing a .387 on-base percentage against left-handers the rest of the way.

Since then -- when Ellsbury has been healthy -- there have been few doubts regarding his ability to hit leadoff.

In '11, he hit .331 with an .869 OPS in the first inning, managing the fourth-best on-base percentage (.381) while seeing the second-most pitches (2,655) of any leadoff man in the game.

But the question now is whether or not Ellsbury has inadvertently become something more.

When Ellsbury suggests that he is only leading off once a game, and after that he's no different than anybody else in the lineup, that is Valentine talking. Within the cryptic suggestions the manager has relayed regarding the lineup, that has been a constant theme when talking about the leadoff spot. And he's right.

Take away that first inning, and David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia each led off frames last season more than Ellsbury. Ortiz led the team at 136 occasions kicking off an inning, while Pedroia was at 133, with Ellsbury totaling 133. And in terms of production, almost all of the group offered similar results, with Ortiz scoring 27 runs as a leadoff man, Pedroia managing 26, and, on instances that didn't include the first inning, Ellsbury also coming in at 26.

But what can't be ignored is that extra instance of kicking off an inning.

Ellsbury led off an inning a total of 274 times in '11, scoring 53 runs. He saw the second-most pitches in the major leagues, which was 246 more than the leader in the No. 2 spot. 

There is no doubt he could be dropped in after the leadoff position, having an OPS (.928) that would have been the best of any No. 2 hitter, the eight-best among No. 8 batters, and seventh for cleanup hitters.

And that is why the importance when it comes to Ellsbury is that, no matter where he is on the lineup card, he remains the same sort of player the Red Sox saw last year -- even if he wasn't completely satisfied.

"I always make goals. Personal goals. But I'm a big goal person. But there was one I didn't get last year," Ellsbury said. "I haven't said what it is."

He could make history come April 5 -- allowing for the first time an MVP (Justin Verlander) pitches to his runner-up (Ellsbury) to begin a season for their respective teams -- but, as Valentine said, "That's nice to write about, but it doesn't really matter."

Another hint? The mystery of what Jacoby Ellsbury is, and will be, continues.