After missing 45 games due to a broken foot, Dustin Pedroia came off the disabled list and tried to help push the Red Sox over the top during the final stretch of the season.
Two games later, he was back on the DL.
Terry Francona told WEEI that he doesn't think Pedroia was irresponsibly rushed back to action.
"I think it was pretty well documented," said Francona. "He saw Dr. [Thomas] Gill, Dr.
[George] Theodore, Dr. [Lewis] Yocum, there are a couple of things that
we are trying to get done [Wednesday], just trying to get more information.
"The best way I can put it is that he passed all the tests and I think
everybody felt that he was safe to come back and try to play," he added. "Now saying
that, they also warned him — and very aggressively — that if he felt
pain he had to let us know. That's when he could do damage. So when he
felt some pain we immediately … we went and got a scan. The scan showed
that there was no further damage, so we were very relieved. But since
he's sore we put him on the DL."
He was also cautiously optimistic about Pedroia's chances of returning later in the 2010 season.
"He was a little concerned so it made us concerned.," Francona said. "So
we pulled the plug and before we wanted to play him again we wanted to
get it looked at then we ended up putting him on the disabled list. That
doesn't mean he's not going to come back and play. I actually think he
will. I think we'll have to keep an eye on him and do the best that we
can."
Pedroia was 1-for-7 in his two games back.
