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Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia vs Bobby Doerr for best second baseman in franchise history

By Sean Penney

PORTLAND, ME - MAY 04: Dustin Pedroia #15 of the Boston Red Sox prepares for the game between the Portland Sea Dogs and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies while on a rehab assignment at Hadlock Field on May 4, 2019 in Portland, Maine. (Photo by Zachary Roy/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, ME - MAY 04: Dustin Pedroia #15 of the Boston Red Sox prepares for the game between the Portland Sea Dogs and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies while on a rehab assignment at Hadlock Field on May 4, 2019 in Portland, Maine. (Photo by Zachary Roy/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON – OCTOBER 24: (L-R) Boston Red Sox Hall of famers Dom Dimaggio, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky walk out onto the field to throw the first pitch of game two of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox on October 24, 2004 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
BOSTON – OCTOBER 24: (L-R) Boston Red Sox Hall of famers Dom Dimaggio, Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky walk out onto the field to throw the first pitch of game two of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox on October 24, 2004 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Offense

Pedroia’s offensive production takes a slight hit from his limited time over the last two years when he clearly wasn’t healthy. For the sake of argument, we’ll evaluate Pedroia’s numbers from 2006-2017 while ignoring the injury-plagued version we’ve briefly seen since.

Here’s the career numbers for both players.

Pedroia: .300/.366/.441/.807, 140 HR, 724 RBI, 9.7 K%, 9.2 BB%, 114 OPS+
Doerr: .288/.362/.461/.823, 223 HR, 1247 RBI, 7.6 K%, 10.1 BB%, 115 OPS+

Both players reached base at nearly an identical clip but Doerr had an advantage in the power department. He’s the Red Sox all-time leader among second baseman in home runs and RBI while ranking second in slugging percentage and ISO (.173).

Each has played 14 MLB seasons but Pedroia falls well short in most counting stats since he’s only played nine games over the last two years so we’re only counting his first dozen seasons. Even if he had stayed healthy, Pedroia wasn’t going to come close to Doerr’s home run or RBI production.

They are fairly evenly matched in terms of getting on base and OPS+ but Doerr’s power advantage and a slight edge in strikeout and walk rates makes him the better hitter.

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