FORT MYERS, Fla. — The best starter in Red Sox camp? So far it’s Joe Kelly.

The righthander allowed one run over 4? innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, further establishing his place in the rotation. Kelly gave up five hits, walked one, and struck out five. The Sox won the rain-shortened game, 3-1.

“I felt like that was another step in the right direction,’’ Kelly said. “I felt good with my off-speed [pitches] and did some things today that I liked.’’

Facing his former team, Kelly didn’t give up a run until Carlos Peguero hit a wind-aided home run in the fourth inning.

“I thought Joe was outstanding in a number of ways,’’ manager John Farrell said. “One, he was powerful and seemed to gain some strength and rhythm as the game went along.

“Four different types of pitches for strikes. He had a number of things working for him today. He was able to get back into some counts with a changeup or breaking ball. An impressive showing for him.’’

Kelly missed the first few days of camp following the birth of his son and admitted he didn’t feel good in his first start as a result.

“From my second start to now, I feel like I’ve made the right adjustments,’’ he said.

In his four starts, Kelly has gone 13 innings and allowed only two runs on 13 hits. He has walked five and struck out 12.

As he did at the end of last season, Kelly continues to sacrifice some velocity in favor of better location. More frequent use of his changeup and curveball has improved the effectiveness of his fastball.

Vazquez impresses

Barring a change in plans, the Red Sox seem determined to have catcher Christian Vazquez start the season in Triple A so they can better control his return from Tommy John surgery.

“We want to do what’s right by Christian. If we do that, we’re going to do what’s right by the Red Sox,’’ Farrell said. “It’s a valuable player and we don’t want to skip any steps with his return.’’

Vazquez still needs to improve his arm strength. Farrell said it’s well above major league average but not yet back to what he showed pre-surgery.

Once Vazquez is ready, he won’t linger in the minors. His defensive skills and ability to bring out the best in pitchers can’t be ignored.

“His receiving is as good as you’re going to find. He stole a number of strikes [on Friday] with his ability to frame,’’ Farrell said. “But it’s the other intangibles: leading a pitcher and getting a pitcher through when he might not have his best stuff, that’s where he can really excel.’’

On the road

The Red Sox play their next three games on the east coast of Florida. The coaching staff and a group of backup players will spent two nights on the road. Other players will stay one night as they bus back and forth to games in Port St. Lucie and Jupiter against the Mets, Cardinals, and Marlins.

With the exception of David Ortiz, all of the regular position players will appear in at least one of the games.

David Price was scheduled to pitch against the Mets on Sunday. But with thunderstorms predicted in the area, he will remain back at Fenway South and pitch in a minor league game.

The Sox will use a series of relievers in place of Price.

Work for Kimbrel

Craig Kimbrel, who wanted to work in back-to-back games at least once before the season, pitched an inning in the Triple A game at Fenway South. Facing Twins players, he pitched one perfect inning, throwing 15 pitches . . . Koji Uehara will pitch in a minor league game on Sunday. The rain kept him from getting his scheduled turn on Saturday . . . Brock Holt will make his first start in left field on Sunday . . . Minor league righthanders William Cuevas (Colombia) and Jhonny Polanco (Nicaragua) are competing in World Baseball Classic qualification games this weekend. Single A Greenville pitching coach Walter Miranda is on the Colombia staff. Former Sox outfielder Trot Nixon is the hitting coach for the Czech Republic . . . Congratulations go out to Red Sox manager of media relations and baseball information Jon Shestakofsky. He accepted a position as vice president of communications at the Hall of Fame. He starts in April.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.