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Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia suffers setback in recovery from hamstring injury

By Sean Penney

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Dustin Pedroia must be chomping at the bit to get back on the field for the Boston Red Sox, but it seems he’ll have to wait a little longer than expected after suffering a setback in his recovery from a strained right hamstring.

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A return appeared to be on the horizon when the second baseman took batting practice earlier this week and declared himself ready to go, but an MRI on Thursday revealed that his hamstring needs more time to build up strength before he can continue with the next step in his rehabilitation.

Pedroia was placed back on the disabled list last month retroactive to his last appearance on July 22, but he’s only played in 6 games since June 24 due to the injury. His brief comeback showed that he wasn’t quite ready, so the Red Sox aren’t going to allow him to rush it this time. With their season having long since slipped away, there’s no reason to bring Pedroia back until he’s fully recovered.

"“It’s one of those things where we are a little disappointed but we understand when you’re an injured player like that, it takes time to recuperate, and you can’t force a player to get in there too quickly,” interim manager Torey Lovullo explained prior to Thursday’s game. “We don’t want to put any of our guys in harm’s way. Here’s one of our best players, our leaders, who we’ve been missing for a while. It’s given other guys a chance to play and perform. We need Dustin. We want Dustin, and we know he’s going to be back as soon as possible.”"

As soon as possible is still about three weeks away. Lovullo discussed the timeline for Pedroia, indicating that it will take another 10 days to continue to strengthen the hamstring, followed by some running and activity to ramp up for 10 to 14 days. That would put Pedroia’s target return at September 10. That’s assuming he doesn’t suffer any further setbacks or require a rehab stint in the minors. If Pedroia isn’t ready for game action before the 10th, Pawtucket’s regular season schedule will have come to a close by then.

We all know how much it must be killing a guy like Pedroia to be sidelined while his team struggles, but the Red Sox must take precaution to ensure the injury heals properly so that it doesn’t effect his offseason workouts. It’s too late for him to help this 2015 team, but if the Red Sox hope to bounce back next season, they need a healthy and productive Pedroia.

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