Cora still plans on Pedey
Won’t count him out
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With one week before rosters expand, the Red Sox haven’t given up hope Dustin Pedroia will play in 2018.
“He feels that he’s going to contribute this year,” manager Alex Cora said yesterday. “I feel the same way. Just a matter of how much time we have. We don’t have anything set as far as timetables, but we’re feeling good with the progress.”
It’s been more than six weeks since Pedroia left the team to continue his rehab at home in Arizona.
“If I get this thing MRI’d in four or five weeks and it’s fully healed, then I will play this year,” Pedroia said on July 11. “If I get an MRI in four or five weeks and it’s three-quarters of the way healed, then I probably won’t.”
Yesterday, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski wouldn’t say whether Pedroia has had the MRI that would determine his fate in 2018. Dombrowski said simply the club remains uncertain if Pedroia will play this year.
Cora talked to Pedroia just a couple of days ago.
“He’s feeling OK,” Cora said. “Having good days, bad days. Mostly good days. It’s different now, he’s kind of learning how to run, using other muscles. You get used to doing something a certain way, all of a sudden they’re teaching you to do it right, quote unquote. It’s not that easy.”
Pedroia is likely to rejoin the Red Sox at some point in September, whether he can play or not.
“If you can contribute on the field, that would be great,” Cora said. “But if we run out of time, I know he can contribute here in the dugout, so it will be good for him to be around.
“He’s been itching since last year to come back. Since he made the last out against the Astros. He cares about this team. Actually ... on Saturday, we always have these meetings before games with
hitters and whatever, and he was a part of it. I can’t tell you what he said, but it was something like, ‘Score 10, and this and that.’ They answered the bell.”
Ian Kinsler, Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez have been sharing the duties at second base, though Nunez has played mostly third base with Rafael Devers on the disabled list.
If Pedroia is able to play, he probably won’t have the luxury of getting any minor league games to rehab with the seasons almost done.
One downside of his particular injury is that it’s rare for baseball players. The doctors don’t exactly know what he’s capable of doing on his surgically repaired knee. If he’s able to play a few innings, would the Sox have interest?
“I don’t know, man,” Cora said. “We’ll keep playing until Sept.1, and we will decide what we have to do after that. The teams around the league are playing well. The Yankees are playing well. Everything that is happening in the West, they’re playing well. I’ve seen a lot of things happen in this game, so we can’t think September yet.
“When we get to Sept.1, we’ll sit, we’ll talk, and this is what we have to do to win the division, or this is what we have to do to catch someone.”
Three’s company
The Sox should have their third catcher back on
the roster soon. Christian Vazquez (pinkie) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland tomorrow. He’ll catch Eduardo Rodriguez (ankle), who will make his second and perhaps final rehab start.
Vazquez will then continue his rehab with TripleA Pawtucket on Tuesday. He hasn’t played in a game since July 7, when he broke the finger sliding into second. He won’t come back to the Red Sox until after rosters expand on Sept. 1
“I’m not worried about the at-bats, I’m more worried about him behind the plate,” Cora said. “He hasn’t played in a while. The communication, we have to be honest with each other. We know that there’s roster expanding on the first but at the same time, we need him to be OK.”
Vazquez was hitting .213 with a .548 OPS before he got hurt.
Moreland back on job
Mitch Moreland returned to the lineup yesterday after missing Saturday’s
game with a bruised knee and was 0-for-3 . . . .
Jackie Bradley Jr. sat out for a day off while Mookie Betts took over in center . . . .
Knuckleballer Steven Wright (knee) was feeling just OK after throwing a simulated game on Friday and it’s uncertain what the next step will be for him . . . .
Third base prospect Michael Chavis homered in his first at-bat with the PawSox yesterday after going 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles on Friday, the day he was promoted from Portland. He’s ineligible for postseason play, for both the Red Sox and a minor league affiliate, due to an 80-game suspension . . . .
Rick Porcello took the loss in last night’s 5-1 setback against Tampa Bay and has lost consecutive decisions for the first time since 2017 . . . .
J.D. Martinez was 2-for4 and passed Betts for the MLB lead in batting average at .337. His 110 RBI are most in the majors, but his 38 homers are one behind Oakland’s Khris Davis.
‘Having good days, bad days. Mostly good days. It’s different now, he’s kind of learning how to run, using other muscles . . . . It’s not that easy.’ — ALEX CORA, on Dustin Pedroia