Dustin Pedroia Heading To The DL. Red Sox Need To Trade For Infield Help
It’s the same old story for the Red Sox. Another key piece of their lineup is going to the DL, this time Dustin Pedroia. The second baseman re-injured his thumb earlier this week while trying to make a diving catch but not in the same spot that forced him to miss six games back in June.
It’s expected that Pedroia will be placed on the DL today prior to the Yankees rolling into town for a four game set, making his earliest return possible on July 19. Subsequently, he will miss 11 games.
A healthy Pedroia for the stretch run is more important than an eleven game span in July so a trip to the DL is the best thing for Pedey and his injured digit. When he came back after missing six games he wasn’t the same ol’ Pedey, hitting a mere .210 with an OBP of .285 with one home run in 105 at-bats. While he likes to play through the pain, Pedroia needs to fully recover and get back to the player of old that battles at the plate before ripping a double down the line.
Pedroia is now the second full-time infielder who is ailing, joining Will Middlebrooks on the list of the walking wounded. A return to action for Middlebrooks is still uncertain and if he can’t go this weekend, the Red Sox are suddenly running thin on infielders.
Mauro Gomez was used at third base on Wednesday, the first time he’s played the position since 2009. Jose Iglesias is the only other infielder who is on the current 40-man roster while Pedro Ciriaco is a possibility to recall after hitting .301 in Pawtucket. The promotion of Ciriaco would require adding him to the roster and with Pedroia on the DL, Ciriaco could naturally take his place on the roster for the time being.
Suddenly the depleted infield could force Ben Cherington to acquire a veteran infielder to bolster their roster for the remainder of the season. While Iglesias and Ciricao are options alongside Gomez, they don’t exactly fit the bill of filling out a roster when making a push for the postseason; at least not yet.
Brandon Inge of the Oakland A’s is one name that comes to mind. Billy Beane may be reluctant to deal him, but once the Sox get their abundance of outfielders back from injury, Daniel Nava could be expendable with a lower level prospect.
Regardless of who the Sox should target, the need to make a trade for a utility infielder is almost a necessity at this point. This was the fear of dealing Kevin Youkilis. While the deal needed to happen sooner than later it’s easy to say the Sox should not have made the move because of this possibility. You cannot hold off on a deal because you’re worried about injury, just like you can’t live your life in fear. It does rub salt in the wound to see Youk playing well in Chicago and playing healthy.
The injury bug has been relentless on the Red Sox, but adversity builds character. For now the Sox need to continue to battle and scrap their way to victory, hopefully split this weekend against the Yankees and then get healthy and start winning ballgames again. Cherington now needs to get on the phone and start poking around to try and land some reinforcements. Without it, we may witness a triple-A type roster trying to compete at the major league level.