Boston Red Sox News: Dustin Pedroia Undergoes Knee Surgery
On Monday night, the Boston Red Sox suffered a three-game sweep in the ALDS at the hands of the Cleveland Indians, which marked the end of the retiring David Ortiz’s career. Only a few days later, the team has announced that second baseman Dustin Pedroia has undergone knee surgery.
In the press release, the Red Sox described Pedroia’s procedure as a “partial medial meniscectomy and chondroplasty,” which was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital by Dr. Peter Asnis, the team’s head orthopedist. Pedroia should reportedly be ready to go for spring training.
2B Dustin Pedroia underwent successful surgery yesterday: https://t.co/pn6IHrtXu2pic.twitter.com/9AkGNKumP8
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) October 13, 2016
This isn’t the first time that Pedroia has gone under the knife. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe counted that Pedroia has now undergone at least half a dozen surgeries.
“It was at least the sixth surgical procedure Pedroia has had since 2007. He had surgery on his left wrist in 2014, left thumb in 2013, left foot in 2010 and ’11, and left wrist in 2007,” Abraham’s article reads.
The 33-year-old Pedroia enjoyed an excellent season in 2016, hitting.318/.376/.449 with 15 home runs and 74 RBIs. Pedroia’s 201 hits were the fourth most in MLB. It also marked the second time in Pedroia’s career in which he had racked up over 200 hits while also scoring over 100 runs, the other occasion being his MVP award-winning campaign back in 2008. Pedroia played in 154 games, his highest total since playing in 160 contests with the World Series-winning Red Sox in 2013.
Pedroia’s season marked a major bounce-back from a 2015 campaign in which the two-time World Champion was limited to only 93 games. At that point, some began to wonder if Pedroia’s career might be declining.
In many ways, Pedroia showed that he can still hang with the best middle infielders in the game. With Brian Dozier, Daniel Murphy, Jose Altuve, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, DJ LeMahieu, and Jason Kipnis all having big years, it was an easy year for a second baseman to get lost in the mix. However, Pedroia was still able to draw plenty of attention with the season he put together.
According to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, Pedroia’s manager John Farrell said he first suffered the injury during a series with the Toronto Blue Jays, a three-game set that took place between September 9 and September 11. Pedroia “twisted his knee” while making a throw, but attempted to play through the injury for a while.
“Pedroia didn’t miss a game until Sept. 20, when he sat out in Baltimore. At the time, the Sox were up four games in the AL East,” Mastrodonato’s article explained.
From September 21 on, Pedroia played in 10 games and batted just.222/.271/.400, but he did hit two home runs. Pedroia also struggled in the ALDS, hitting just.167/.286/.250 against Indians pitching.
With players such Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr., much has been made of the young talent on Boston’s roster. However, the veteran Pedroia played a key role in helping the team propel its way to a division tile and playoff berth for the first time in three years.
With Ortiz stepping aside, Pedroia’s leadership will become as important as ever. Pedroia will replace Ortiz as the longest-tenured member of the organization. Pedroia made his MLB debut with the Red Sox back in 2006 and remains under contract through 2021.
Pedroia will enter next season with a.301/.366/.445 career batting line, 1,683 career hits, 133 home runs, and 874 runs scored. In addition to his 2008 AL MVP award and two World Series rings, Pedroia was also the AL Rookie of the Year back in 2007 and has made four All-Star teams. Pedroia has won four Gold Gloves and one Silver Slugger award as well.
[Featured Image by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images]
