Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia makes 2018 season debut

Dustin Pedroia is in the lineup for the first time this season when the Boston Red Sox host the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

He’s back! Dustin Pedroia will make his season debut with the Boston Red Sox in Saturday afternoon’s game against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park.

The veteran second baseman has been sidelined all season while recovering from the cartilage restoration procedure that he underwent on his left knee last October. He was activated from the disabled list on Friday after the Red Sox designated Hanley Ramirez for assignment. While he was with the team for the opener of their weekend series with the Braves, Pedroia did not appear in the game.

He will in today’s game. Pedroia is slotted sixth in the batting order and will play second base.

We are used to seeing Pedroia in the No. 2 hole in the lineup, which has been occupied by Andrew Benintendi for most of the season. It makes sense to ease Pedroia back in by dropping him lower in the order. There’s no reason to put the pressure of hitting near the top on a player returning from an lengthy injury absence.

Benintendi has been heating up over the last few weeks and may end up keeping his spot in the order. With Hanley out of town, J.D. Martinez has been bumped up a spot to third. That gives the Red Sox an outstanding trio of Mookie Betts, Benintendi and Martinez leading off every game. Why mess with what’s working?

It’s possible that if Pedroia heats up we could see him move into one of the top three spots where Ramirez once was in order to put Martinez back in the cleanup spot. That won’t happen right away, if at all. Martinez is one of the team’s best hitters and should hit third instead of fourth in order to maximize his plate appearances.

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Pedroia had an uneventful rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket. He was a mere 1-for-14 at the plate with three walks and three strikeouts over five games. The Red Sox aren’t concerned about the lack of production. They were satisfied that he was able to play seven innings on consecutive days. Proving that he knee was able to handle the playing time was all the team needed to see before activating him.

The 34-year old battled through knee soreness last season but still hit a respectable .293 with a .761 OPS in 105 games. He lost a step on defense to appear merely average in the field, although a healthy knee will go a long way toward improving those metrics.

Even if Pedroia only manages to replicate the numbers he put up last year while dealing with a balky knee, he would still be an upgrade for the Red Sox at second base. Eduardo Nunez has been the primary option filling in at the position. He’s struggled to the tune of a .249 average and .637 OPS and his defense is a steep drop off from Pedroia.

Next: Ramirez designated for assignment

You can bet that Pedroia is chomping at the bit to get back in the lineup. Now he’ll finally get his chance.