Alex Cora Wasn’t Excited About Dustin Pedroia’s Spring Debut — And For Good Reason

It’s been a long road back for Dustin Pedroia, and the journey is ongoing.

But the Boston Red Sox second baseman took a pretty big step forward Thursday, playing in his first spring training game ahead of the 2019 season. It also was Pedroia’s first baseball game since May 29, 2018, the result of knee surgery in October 2017 and post-procedure inflammation that limited him to just three games last campaign.

In addition to playing a couple innings in the field, Pedroia roped a single and scored later in the first inning in the Red Sox’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.

So we should all be pretty excited about Pedroia, right? Well, not quite.

Sox manager Alex Cora *wasn’t* excited by what the 35-year-old did Thursday, and for pretty good reason.

If Pedroia responds well Friday, he could play again Saturday. Did Cora have a special feeling when Pedroia singled? ‘No. You can tell him I said that.’ Cora then laughed and said Pedroia doesn’t want anyone to make a big deal about each step. ‘I’m playing by his rules.’

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) March 7, 2019

Hey, Cora has pushed all the right buttons as Red Sox manager. So if he feels laying off Pedroia is the right move, it’s kind of tough to argue with him.