It's been a while since Red Sox fans have seen Dustin Pedroia on the field. And it's unknown when he'll return to Boston.
The second baseman suffered a knee injury in a 2017 collision with then-Baltimore Orioles' Manny Machado when his slide appeared to be just a bit too high.
Pedroia played in just nine games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and (understandably) didn't appear during the abbreviated 2020 campaign.
It's been anything but easy for Pedroia to return. He's suffered a myriad of setbacks after several surgeries.
In April, ex-manager Ron Roenicke revealed the 36-year-old wasn't even at the point of thinking of rejoining the team. And we haven't heard much about Pedroia since.
But during Boston's end of the year media availability on Zoom, general manager Brian O'Halloran was asked about Pedroia and his status.
"I think Dustin is so important to this franchise and certainly we'll be checking in," he said Tuesday. "We all check in with Dustin quite frequently during the season, it's hard not to, he's always -- whatever is going on in Boston, he's paying attention and it's always good to check in with him. We'll be talking with him soon now that the season has completed and take it from there. We don't have anything, any particular plans right now. We'll be engaging with Dustin soon."
O'Halloran did note, however, that Pedroia is the one who's in control of his future.
"... He is obviously going to have the most say where things go from here. No. 1 is making sure that he is as healthy as he can be for the rest of his life, really," he said. "Certainly we want to talk to him and see how he's feeling and see where he wants to go from here."
Pedroia signed an eight-year extension with Boston in 2013 and is set to make $12 million next season -- the last year of his deal.
