Second baseman Dusti Pedoria has landed on the disabled list again, depriving the Boston Red Sox of one of their top hitters.
The Boston Red Sox placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday with left knee inflammation. The move is retroactive to July 29.
This roster move opens a spot on the 25-man roster for Addision Reed, who was acquired in a deadline deal from the New York Mets.
The knee has been an ongoing issue for Pedroia, who had offseason surgery to clean up the meniscus. Getting spiked in the back of the leg by Manny Machado during a series in Baltimore back in April certainly didn’t help. The incident cost Pedroia the next three games and he’s needed the occasional maintenance day ever since.
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Pedroia also made a trip to the disabled list in late May/early June with a wrist injury. He spent the minimum amount of time on the sidelines, missing only nine games. It remains to be seen if the turnaround will be as quick this time.
The Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato reported on Monday that Pedroia was scheduled to visit a specialist about his knee, foreshadowing the move to place him on the DL. Manager John Farrell revealed that Pedroia has been playing through discomfort, which has worsened from being overused in recent weeks.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski chimed in by stating he doesn’t believe Pedroia will be sidelined for long. It certainly didn’t concern him enough to make a rash move to bolster the infield at the trade deadline. However, he did concede that Pedroia has a bad knee that he’ll continue to deal with the rest of his career. Much of the damage is due to wear and tear, which isn’t going to fully heal as long as the 33-year old keeps playing.
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One of the deadline moves Dombrowski did make was to acquire Eduardo Nunez from the San Francisco Giants. While Nunez was expected to help solve the third base riddle, the versatile infielder can also help fill in at second base. The silver lining here is that Farrell should have no issue finding ample playing time for both Nunez and Rafael Devers, the team’s hottest hitters at the moment.
Despite having an adequate short-term solution in place, the Red Sox need Pedroia back in the lineup. He leads the team with a .307 average and .381 OBP. Not to mention his Gold Glove caliber defense at second base.
Farrell told reporters on Tuesday after news of the DL stint was announced that the concern with Pedroia’s knee is related to cartilage, not ligaments. So that’s good news. It likely rules out a more significant injury. There’s hope that he can return when first eligible in time for the upcoming series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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In the meantime it will be up to the other guys in the lineup to step up. Nunez has impressed in his brief time in Boston, but he’s no Dustin Pedroia. The other lineup regulars will need to help pick up the slack until their leader returns. With the Red Sox already sitting a half game behind the division-leading Yankees, they can’t afford to let his absence cost them any more ground.