Red Sox considering DL trip for Dustin Pedroia?

Everyone knows how much it takes to get Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia out of the lineup. On Opening Day of the 2013 season, Pedroia tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb and upon hearing that he could not make the injury any worse by playing on it (showing that we’re talking about a fairly serious injury here), he proceeded to play 160 games plus the entire postseason. Then he did it again the next season, suffering a hand injury in early April and playing through until mid-September before the Red Sox shut him down in a lost season. That’s why the news that Pedroia has sat two of the last three games is especially concerning.

Pedroia’s left knee is currently bothering him, with left knee inflammation the official citation on his day-to-day injury report. He went just 0-5 in the one game that he did start of the past three, meaning that things might not quite be right with Pedroia and even the gritty 31-year old recognizes that sitting is the right move. At this point in time, however, the main issue is whether Pedroia will be forced to sit for an extra 15 days because of this inflammation.

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Red Sox manager John Farrell has stated that this is a relatively minor injury, saying “we’re not at a DL point with this.” However, if the inflammation progresses further, it might be best for the Red Sox to put Pedroia on the 15-day disabled list to avoid any lingering issues with their star second baseman.

After all, we’ve seen vintage Pedroia throughout the 2015 season as “Pedey” has been one of Boston’s few bright spots. Currently slashing .307/.369/.451, Pedroia is posting his best offensive totals since 2011 (the last time he was fully healthy for a season) and, though his defense has been uncharacteristically average, he leads all Red Sox players with 2.2 WAR.

Nobody wants to see Pedroia go to the disabled list, as the Red Sox would be missing their best player as a result. However, placing him there is the obvious choice if this injury could have lasting effects on Pedroia throughout the season. It doesn’t appear like a DL trip is in the works, though, so we just have to hope Pedroia recovers swiftly and returns to the lineup within a few days.