Pedroia dealing with nagging wrist injury, will not play tonight

Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Nagging injuries haven’t bothered Dustin Pedroia in the past. We’re talking about the guy who played in 160 games and slashed .301/.372/.415 last season despite tearing a ligament in his thumb on Opening Day. However, Pedroia recently suffered a minor wrist injury on a takeout slide this week and it’s easy to imagine that that nagging injury has played into Pedroia’s slow start to the 2014 season. Through his first 12 games, Pedroia is slashing just .236/.236/.291 and while that will obviously rise as the sample size increases, it’s clear that something is not right with Pedroia’s swing.

Recognizing this, manager John Farrell has scratched Pedroia from tonight’s Sunday Night Baseball game against the Yankees. In his stead, Jonathan Herrera will shift over to second base with Ryan Roberts manning the hot corner against right-handed Ivan Nova.

It’s unclear whether or not this injury will be a long-term inconvenience for Pedroia, and it doesn’t currently appear to be anything serious. However, if Red Sox fans hear anything about wrist injuries, we’ll automatically think of Kevin Youkilis (who was never the same after breaking his wrist) or David Ortiz (who wasn’t the same for more than a year) or Will Middlebrooks (who had a terrible 2013 season after breaking his wrist to end his 2012 rookie year).

Luckily, Pedroia’s injury isn’t of the magnitude of any of those other players. Nothing is broken and while Pedroia has not yet announced whether he will have his wrist tested for any potential damage, expect him to avoid the disabled list barring a serious injury. Hopefully this is nothing serious and two days of rest (the Red Sox don’t play Monday) will help him recuperate and attempt to break out of his early-season slump.