It’s hard to imagine an outspoken guy like Dustin Pedroia flying under the radar. But through a third of the Boston Red Sox’s season, he’s doing just that.
The Red Sox’s 2016 campaign has been marked by heroic offensive achievements. David Ortiz leads Major League Baseball with 54 RBIs at the ripe age of 40 and might be compiling the greatest final season ever. Xander Bogaerts owns one of the best batting averages in baseball (.345), Jackie Bradley Jr. is fresh off the fourth-longest hitting streak in franchise history and Mookie Betts belted five home runs in a span of seven at-bats last week.
Those player have gotten plenty of praise, and with good reason. Yet their successes have left little of the spotlight for Pedroia, who’s quietly putting together one of the best seasons of his career.
The 32-year-old second baseman enters Tuesday with a .316 batting average, the third-highest among American League second baseman behind Jose Altuve and Ian Kinsler. He’s reached base in his last 25 starts and owns MLB’s longest active hitting streak at 13 games — sharing it, fittingly, with Ortiz.
“Here’s Pedey hitting .310 and on pace for one of his stronger offensive seasons,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Pedroia last Friday, via Boston Herald. “Maybe through the write-ups he’s underappreciated, but not by any means anywhere else.”
Pedroia has dealt with several nagging injuries over the last two seasons, including a torn thumb that required offseason surgery and a hamstring strain that cost him 69 games last season. The former American League MVP finally looks healthy, though, and the results are showing. Pedroia has been an excellent table-setter at the No. 2 spot in the Red Sox’s lineup, posting a .376 on-base percentage to allow Bogaerts, Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez to drive him in.
But the 5-foot-9 second baseman also is generating his own offense. With seven homers and 26 RBIs through 55 games, Pedroia is on pace for his highest total in both categories — 20 homers and 76 RBIs — since 2011. He also boasts an .863 OPS, which if the season ended Tuesday would be his highest since his MVP season in 2008.
Pedroia’s impact always has gone beyond his performance at the plate, with this year being no different. He and Ortiz still are the veteran leaders in the clubhouse, and his stellar defense hasn’t missed a beat — in fact, he leads all MLB second baseman with 1.0 defensive wins over replacement, thanks to plays like this one he made Sunday:
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There are plenty of exciting players to watch in Boston’s league-leading offense, most of whom are budding young stars. But the old guard of Pedroia and Ortiz still are getting it done, even if Big Papi is generating all the headlines. And that’s just the way Pedroia likes it.
“I don’t think about it,” Pedroia said per the Herald, when asked to compare his strong start to other years. “I’m just playing baseball.”
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
