The Boston Red Sox infield just got thinner with the news that Dustin Pedroia will miss two weeks with a sprained left wrist.
The Red Sox are placing Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day disabled list with a “severely” sprained left wrist according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. The news is a follow-up to earlier reports that Pedroia had left the team and traveled back to Boston to undergo an MRI on the wrist he injured in Monday’s loss to the Chicago White Sox.
The positive news is that Pedey didn’t suffer any structural damage to his wrist or ligaments, though that won’t prevent the second baseman from missing some significant time. The negative news is that he’s likely to miss a minimum of two weeks, creating greater problems for an already thin infield.
With Pedroia expected to hit the disabled list Tuesday, the Red Sox plan to activate Pablo Sandoval in a corresponding move, bringing him back from his rehab stint earlier than expected. That he’s coming back prematurely isn’t necessarily a huge concern. He’s been able to play in back-to-back games without issue, and while his performance hasn’t been anything special, David Price‘s solid outing is proof that rehab programs are more about getting in the work than anything else.
The addition of Sandoval does help with the team’s infield depth, but concerns of who will man second base for the next two weeks remain. Starting him at third means that John Farrell can move the team’s current third baseman, Deven Marrero, over to second and keep Josh Rutledge in his bench utility role. While Marrero’s been a welcomed addition on defense, his .179 average and .493 OBP leave a lot to be desired.
The logic for keeping Marrero in the lineup is that his defense makes up for enough of his awful bat to salvage some value. Whether or not that’s true is up to personal opinion. Though, the team has shown that it can live with an automatic out at the bottom of the order so long as that player makes the necessary plays in the field. The same could not be said for Rutledge while he was starting at third.
If the Red Sox really wanted to get creative, they could move Mookie Betts back to second base. For the sake of the argument, he did come in the minor leagues playing that position, but moved over to center and then right based on necessity.
Putting him back in the infield would be interesting, but ultimately create more problems than solutions. It would create holes in either right or left, depending on how much you trust Andrew Benintendi‘s arm or Chris Young‘s ability to play on an everyday basis. And exposes Betts to an unnecessary amount of injury risk on double plays.
The smart move and the one the Red Sox are likely to make is to live with Marrero at second and Sandoval at third for at least the next two weeks.
Next: Dustin Pedroia's MRI results
The reality is that this is another bad situation for a team that has experienced many throughout the season. Losing Pedroia is a huge loss both offensively and defensively, but one the team will just have to persevere through. Thankfully, it’s only a two-week injury and not long-term.