The wait for Dustin Pedroia continues.
And it may continue until next calendar year.
The Boston Red Sox second baseman has been out nearly all of this season due to offseason cartilage restoration surgery. Pedroia played in three games in late May after spending the first two months of the campaign rehabbing, but inflammation has sidelined him since.
Pedroia now is in Arizona, where he continues to rehab his knee in order to get back to full health. The Red Sox long have asserted they won’t rush the 34-year-old back, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski reiterated that Monday, giving a less than encouraging update on the second baseman.
Dombrowski on Pedroia: “Maybe he will come back in September but there are no assurances to that.”
— Jason Mastrodonato (@JMastrodonato) July 31, 2018
Dombrowski on a possible Pedroia return: “I can’t say I don’t expect it but we’re not anticipating it. We called him last night so he wasn’t caught off guard. He doesn’t need pressure to return. If he does, we will happily deal with it when it happens.”
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) July 31, 2018
The aforementioned call from Red Sox manager Alex Cora was to let Pedroia know they were acquiring second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Los Angeles Angels. While Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez have done a fine job filling in at the position, Kinsler plays some of the best defense at second base and allows the pair of utility men to play elsewhere.
Pedroia personally gave an injury update earlier in the month, and in it he did not commit to a return in 2018.
Of course, even if Pedroia were to return toward the end of the regular season, he would have to be in absolute peak form with stable health in order for the Red Sox to gamble on a playoff roster spot with him.
