Dustin Pedroia

walking wounded

Who has put a hex on the health of the Red Sox?  In the last seven days, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, and Jason Varitek have all been placed on the DL, where they

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How about the Red Sox even thinking about moving Dustin Pedroia to shortstop?  I like his willingness to change positions if it will help the team, but I don’t think it would be a wise decision for the Sox.  It isn’t that Pedroia couldn’t handle shortstop; he played the position for Arizona State not too long ago.  But he’s played a strong second base in the majors, making just six errors in each of his three full seasons in the big leagues and winning a Gold Glove in 2008.  What if he moves to short, makes a few big errors early in the season, starts thinking about his defense all the time and goes into a slump at the plate?  A smarter move is to spend the money on a proven shortstop and not mess with what works.  Thankfully for Red Sox Nation, infielder Marco Scutaro signed a two-year contract today to become Boston’s shortstop, so Pedroia will continue to play second base for the foreseeable future.

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p>Carlos Quentin’s injury a month before the end of the season might have cleared the way for Dustin Pedroia to win the American League Most Valuable Player award.  With David Ortiz’s nagging wrist injury frequently keeping him out of the lineup and Manny being Manny in Dodger Blue since the trading deadline, Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis carried the Red Sox offense for the bulk of the season.  In addition to leading the league in hits, doubles, and runs scored, Pedroia walked 50 times versus only 52 strikeouts, finished second to Joe Mauer in batting average, and perhaps most impressively, stole 20 bases while being caught just once all season.

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Julio Lugo also has 5 steals and even the self-proclaimed lead footed Dustin Pedroia has contributed 4 steals. In total, 7 different Boston players have successfully swiped a base so far this season.

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Last season Dustin Pedroia hit below .200 for the first month of the season before going on win the Rookie of the Year award. That is not to say that Lowrie will struggle as badly as Pedroia did, however, he is even less likely to have the kind of success that Ryan Braun sustained for the Brewers last season. Struggles like Jacoby Ellsbury experienced to begin this season are a more likely scenario. Just as pitchers adjusted to find weaknesses in Ellsbury’s game, they will certainly do so with Lowrie. The fact that Lowrie has already struck out 6 times in only 16 at bats makes the probability of prolonged struggles even more likely.

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e, none bigger than his ninth inning home run last night in Cleveland to put the Red Sox ahead 6-4. Dustin Pedroia is also beginning to sting the ball around the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.

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Manny Ramirez will not be far behind. Dustin Pedroia will hit .300. Mike Lowell will hit around 40 doubles. The Red Sox will end up scoring plenty of runs this season and every game will not be

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His handling of Boston’s young prospects, most notably sticking with Dustin Pedroia, is also particularly commendable. Most important, Francona has always conducted himself with class and

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Young, homegrown talent played a significant part in the Red Sox title run last year led by Dustin Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year and Jonathan Papelbon definitively closing out games. Clay Buchholz pitched a no hitter in his second major league start, Jacoby Ellsbury stepped in when he was needed and became a vital part of the offense, and Jon Lester got the win in the World Series clincher. All are expected to be key contributors to the team this season. However, this influx of talent from the minors has not left this cupboard bare as Boston’s farm system still ranks in Baseball America’s top 5. Here are some of the next big prospects to keep an eye on in camp this spring and follow their progress this summer.

Continue reading "Boston Farm System Still Flush With Prospects"