Pedroia to return soon? Not so fast!
AP Photo/Elise Amendola |
Ryan MacLeod (RyanMacLeod15)
Contributing Writer
While Dustin Pedroia has been on the disabled list for almost it appears that he is rapidly approaching a return early next month. The question that still lingers is should Dustin Pedroia play again this season?
Pedroia has a history of rushing back from injuries, it has happened already once this year and is proving that injuries have started to diminish his value on this team. Don't get me wrong, Dustin Pedroia is a gamer, he will play baseball as hard as he possibly can for as long as he can, but his days of playing 150 games a season may be over. If Pedroia were to come back this season, it would likely be after September 10th, leaving only 18 games left in the season for him to play in.
Is it worth Dustin Pedroia playing in 18 games at the rest of the season or is it more important for him to play 130 games next season. Pedroia has played in only 75 games this season, a number that would match his career low other than 2006 when he made his major league debut.
The Red Sox are 12.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL East and their season is all but over. The team is under a new President of Baseball Operations and he knows the value of Dustin Pedroia, but he also understands the importance of youth players. Since Pedroia has gone on the DL it has allowed players like Brock Holt and Josh Rutledge to get more playing time and allow them to be evaluated as every day major leaguers. Dustin Pedroia has proven that he is an everyday player for this organization, and he doesn't need to play 18 more games this season to prove that.
Let Pedroia relax for the rest of this season, let him heal and come back healthy in spring training 2016. If the Red Sox are indeed going to make big moves this offseason, the best way to prepare for that is to not have Dustin Pedroia playing.