BOSTON — For the first time since 2006, the Boston Red Sox won’t have Dustin Pedroia at second base on Opening Day.
The team announced that Pedroia underwent a successful cartilage restoration procedure Wednesday on his left knee in New York – a surgery that will keep him off the field for approximately seven months. It’s the same procedure Steven Wright underwent in April, costing him the rest of his season.
In a best-case scenario, Pedroia could return around Memorial Day.
“Nothing in regards to the time frame is unexpected,” said Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations, in a text. “If surgery was decided upon, it matches the expectations.”
Pedroia’s knee bothered him nearly all year despite arthroscopic surgery last offseason. He aggravated that knee on Manny Machado’s hard slide into second base in April, missing a few days then. By late July he required two stints on the disabled list due to inflammation in his knee. Even when he returned, he needed regular rest; he didn’t play consecutive nine-inning games in the field in the regular season after July 26.
Pedroia clearly wasn’t himself upon his return. Including the postseason, he hit .220 with a.301 on-base percentage and .280 slugging percentage after Sept. 1.
Perhaps even more jarring was the occasional uncertainty he showed in the field on his unstable knee; there was a routine ground ball he essentially tackled in the division series.
“Obviously we had to try and find a way to do what we did so I could be out there,” he said, “but if you were to get it fixed, the recovery is a long time. So I have a lot of things to weigh in with the doctors and figure it out.”
“He has a bad knee that he’s going to have to watch and we’re going to have to watch for the rest of his career,” Dombrowski memorably said in July.
Dombrowski said Wednesday that Pedroia’s surgery doesn’t influence Boston’s offseason plans given the internal options at second base. While the Sox have plenty of candidates to share time there, none resemble everyday players.
Brock Holt got the bulk of the time in Pedroia’s place in September but was one of the worst players in the American League this past season. Further, Holt hasn’t been consistently healthy the last three years himself.
Marco Hernandez is coming off a lost season due to shoulder surgery. Deven Marrero can play the position defensively but hasn’t proven he can acceptably hit right-handed pitching. He and Tzu-Wei Lin are each one season removed from being two of the worst hitters in minor league baseball.
Boston repeatedly has said it wouldn’t entertain the idea of moving Mookie Betts back to second base, which he played most of the time in the minor leagues. Considering what second base historically does to those who play it – just look at Pedroia now – it would appear unwise for the Sox to expose their most valuable asset to the physical rigors of that position.
Fenway Park has the city’s go-ahead to install dugout-style seating for fans, provided the plan receives the approval of Major League Baseball.
Architect Charles F. Izzo told the Boston Landmarks Commission the seating will give ticket holders along the first-base line a player’s-eye view of the game.
“Other ballparks have installed them,” Izzo told the board. “They’ve been a big hit.”
The area will be placed below the field level, with a drink rail area for snacks, refreshments and bar stools. Izzo said fans with tickets to the area will be free to stand and mingle during the game because they will be below the level of those seated behind them.
To make room, Izzo didn’t state what occupancy of the dugout area would be, but plans show as many as 25. He told the board the Sox are removing 12 seats from the stands on that side of the field. But as part of the plan, Fenway is adding 30 seats to the third-base side.
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