BOSTON — Dustin Pedroia started baseball activities Friday and should be back soon. Eduardo Nunez, he who does not make an out, will not shift to the bench.
"Well, I think I’d be crazy not to have him in the lineup somewhere. My God, he’s been one of the best players in the last week," Sox manager John Farrell said Friday. "So yeah, I think the versatility is what really helps in this situation. We’ll see how Pedey responds when he gets back to us, how consistently or how many consecutive games he can go.
"We catch a little bit of a break with the scheduling because of the off days that are [coming up] here, but one of those is now taken away with the makeup game [with the Indians]. So, he’s going to be on the field regularly.”
Nunez can move around, so it might be a situation where guys simply rest: one day it's Devers, one day it's Pedroia and so on and so forth. Considering Pedroia's needed downtime outside of the disabled list and is expected to continue to need rest, Nunez shouldn't be lacking for opportunity.
"The versatility by Eduardo is a really good thing because we can move him in three different positions on the infield," Farrell said. "Keep guys fresh, spell guys, what's the best matchup? All the things above. But Eduardo's performance is not going to slow Pedey down."
Pedroia on Saturday is expected to swing for the first time since going to the DL with left knee inflammation.