Ryan Roberts could have declined a trip to Triple-A Pawtucket, but instead he accepted the assignment to ensure playing time.

Roberts had enough Major League service time to decide his own fate.

"The thing about baseball is that you get into a feel, and then it's about repeating the feel," he said. "Playing time and getting the feel back of what your swing does when it's right — those are two pluses I've been fortunate here to get. Now it's just keep swinging until the hits come."

Roberts is hitting .267 in his brief stint in Triple-A.

"I didn't need to go wait for another team to pick me up and go somewhere else," he said. "I didn't have time to do any of that stuff. What I needed to do was start playing baseball. Sitting at home for a couple of weeks was enough for me. Even though there was a lot of season left, I felt like I didn't have enough time. I felt like I needed to start playing right away. The best thing to do was come down here and play and see what happens later on."