With Pedroia Back, Are Sox Contenders or Pretenders?

The notion of whether the Sox are contenders or pretenders has been on my mind for about a month or so now and the question hasn’t gotten any easier to answer. With a rough ending to their 10-game road trip, the Sox find themselves 5.5 games back in both the AL East and AL Wild Card after a New York Yankees loss last night and a Tampa Bay Rays win. There are 43 games left in the 2010 season, so there is time for the Sox to make up ground, but they have been unable to win big games when they have needed them down the stretch. The hope for the Sox comes in a small 5’9″ package named Dustin Pedroia, who will be returning to the Sox lineup on Tuesday for the 1st time since breaking his foot in late June. Is that unrealistic pressure being place on Pedroia or is he really the catalyst the Sox have been missing these past several weeks?

Until his injury, Dustin Pedroia was one of the best players on the Sox roster in 2010, arguably the best at times. In 73 games, Pedroia has hit .292 with 12 home runs and 41 rbis and has developed the nickname ‘Laser Show’ with good reason. Pedroia currently has the highest slugging percentage (.570) and OPS (.871) of his career and at time early in the season when the offense was struggling, was the only guy making things happen at the plate. Inserting Pedroia into the 2nd slot in the Sox lineup will give the 3-5 hitters better pitches to hit and will likely increase their rbi opportunities, assuming Pedroia is fully healthy and can get back his hitting momentum. At this point, the Sox are looking for all the help they can get, so to get a key piece of the puzzle back from injury can only be a positive.

Pedroia is also a powerful figure in the clubhouse. The confident, borderline cocky, 2nd basemen conducts himself as if he were 6’9″, 300+ pounds, throwing his weight around and joking with anyone and everyone within ear shot. His playful yet focused attitude is exactly what is missing from the Sox right now, who are pressing and trying to hard to win each game. Baseball is a game that comes naturally, when a team plays solid fundamentally and stays loose, even in late game situations. That is precisely why David Ortiz has been Mr. Clutch for the Sox in the past, because he stays loose and treats each at bat the same, regardless of the score, inning or opposing pitcher. Pedroia has the same attitude, focusing on getting the job done when needed and trying to stay relaxed the rest of the time.

Another huge improvement with the return of Dustin Pedroia is his defensive ability. In 73 games this season, Pedroia had just 2 errors and while on the DL, the combination of Bill Hall, Jed Lowrie, Eric Patterson and Niuman Romero (1 inning) committed 6 errors in 46 games. Those errors may not seem to have a huge overall impact, but they lead to more pitches being thrown by the pitcher to shorten their outing and sometimes can lead to runs that swing the game’s momentum away from the Red Sox. Beyond the error count, Pedroia has the tendency to make big plays in big situations, something that has been missing with the other guys filling in, because Pedroia has a disregard for his body and a willingness to dive, spin and jump that hurts me to even watch. Strong defensive plays can sometimes be as much of a motivator for the team as a big hit or big strike out, because it rallies the clubhouse together to put in that extra effort.

There is no recipe for continued success that works every game or even every year, but if you have a group of guys that play hard for each other on a daily basis, usually good things begin to happen. Pedroia is a well-liked, well-respected member of the team and his presence alone should help to boost this team’s morale and confidence. Will it be enough? Your guess is as good as mine, but if the Sox plan on playing beyond the 1st few days in October, they better start making their move now before it’s too late.