Dustin Pedroia Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery on Left Foot

by Michael Hurley on Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 12:05AM

Dustin Pedroia's tone on Thursday indicated that he was fully prepared to undergo season-ending surgery on Friday. His instincts turned out to be correct, as a screw was inserted into his left foot, ending his 2010 season but giving him the opportunity to show up for spring training in full health.

The Red Sox announced early Friday evening that Pedroia underwent successful surgery on his navicular bone, which was injured on June 25 in San Francisco when he fouled a ball off his foot. The surgery was performed by Dr. George Theodore and Dr. Tom Gill at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Pedroia said on Thursday that undergoing surgery would give his foot a 90 percent chance of healing fully for spring training.

Pedroia was on pace to eclipse his home run and RBI numbers from his 2008 MVP season, as he had 12 homers and 41 RBIs at the time of the injury. His attempt to return in mid-August proved to be too much for his foot to handle, as he was placed back on the disabled list after just two games.

With Pedroia now officially done for the year, that makes four Opening Day starters whose seasons ended early. Kevin Youkilis suffered a torn muscle in his hand, Mike Cameron finally underwent surgery for an abdominal tear after playing through pain much of the year and Jacoby Ellsbury has barely seen the field after suffering broken ribs in April. Victor Martinez and Josh Beckett, who were also starters on Opening Day, both spent time on the disabled list as well, with Martinez missing nearly a month of action and Beckett out from mid-May to late July.