BOSTON — Dustin Pedroia’s visit to a specialist was a precursor to a trip to the 10-day disabled list because of left knee inflammation. The move is retroactive to July 29.
“He's been dealing with the inflammation in the left knee,” Sox manager John Farrell said Tuesday at Fenway Park. “As we got to this point of inactivity, we had some lengthy conversations on how he's responding, which, there's some improvement here. … We’re hopeful he's back to us at the end of the 10-day stint.”
Even if Pedroia comes back right away, this bout with knee soreness has underscored that what Pedroia is dealing with is something that is expected to continue to be problematic. Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday it’s something that would need to be monitored for the rest of Pedroia’s career.
“He's dealt with quite a bit of pain. For all of us that know Pedey, he's going to find a way,” Farrell said. “And I can't say that when he comes back he'll be pain free, but the way the volume of play got to the point and how it was irritated, felt like this was the best move at the moment. Continue to work at the treatment. Continue to give him some idle time to put him in a best position to make the stretch run from here on out.”
If Pedroia is managing a condition like arthritis, Farrell is unaware of it. Pedroia’s left knee was repaired surgically in October.
“I'm not aware that it's arthritis,” Farrell said. “He had the cartilage attended to in the offseason. So as the volume has picked up and the hours that he has spent on the field in games, just felt like we needed to take a step back and really address it right now as far as the treatment goes and get him back to us as best possible, hopefully next week.”
Farrell said he did not think surgery is being considered for Pedroia at this point.
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Eduardo Nunez started at second base for a fourth straight game. Addison Reed, newly acquired from the Mets, replaced Pedroia on the roster.
Sandy Leon has right knee swelling
Another Red Sox regular, Sandy Leon, is dealing with a knee injury as well, to his right knee. He was not behind the plate Tuesday night with Chris Sale on the mound, breaking up a usual battery. Leon was hurt when he scored the winning run in extra innings Friday at Fenway Park.
"The other night when he slid in the walk off it was kind of an odd movement,” Farrell said. “Kind of twisted a little bit, the impact of the ground. He came out of that with some swelling in the knee, but he's vastly improved. He's able to catch in an emergency and would think in the next few days he'd be back in a starting role."