Dustin Pedroia Out of the Lineup With Thumb Injury

The injury bug has reared it’s ugly head in the Red Sox clubhouse yet again this year,biting Dustin Pedroia on the thumb for the second time.  The injury will force Pedey to miss today’s game against Oakland.

According to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, Pedroia jammed his right thumb while trying to make a diving catch during Tuesday’s game and will be evaluated on Thursday when the team returns to Boston.

The early good news on the injury is that it doesn’t appear to have any relation to the previous thumb injury that forced Pedroia to miss six games with a torn muscle.  Pedroia described the jam as more on the top of his thumb versus the tear that occurred on the inner part of his thumb.

Mauro Gomez who was recently called up from triple-A will play third base and Nick Punto will take Pedey’s spot at second.  Gomez has never played third in the majors and last played the hot corner in 2009 in single-A ball.  Abraham reports that Gomez committed 31 errors in 71 games when playing third base, before being transitioned into a first baseman.

With Aaron Cook on the mound, a sinker baller who relies on the ground ball for the majority of his outs, Gomez could be overly busy in his third Red Sox game of the year.  It’s a good thing the Sox are playing the Oakland A’s, the lowest scoring team in the American League and they may need another brilliant performance from Cook to offset some of the potential defensive blunders that could transpire.