NEW YORK - He's won four Gold Gloves, two World Series and one MVP. And in his spare time, Dustin Pedroia fixes what's wrong with teammates.
Last season, Pedroia detected a flaw in Mike Napoli's set-up at the plate and advised him of it on a team flight home from Seattle. The following week, Napoli was named the American League Player of the Week.
On Sunday, Pedroia was looking at video of himself against opposing lefties. He came across some at-bats against Price from 2014, and noticed Price's windup had a different look from how he's pitched this season.
"I was looking for something for me,'' said Pedroia, "and (Price in the video) was throwing me some fastballs in and I couldn't see him very good. I noticed he was hiding the ball differently. Then I just slowed it down and watched it and there was a couple of things that he was doing that he hasn't been doing (with the Red Sox).
"I could see that at second (base). I went back and watched (him) yesterday. That was it.''
Pedroia tried to dismiss his findings as minor, but Price pointed out that this sort of input is what makes Pedroia a good teammate.
"We do that all the time with each other,'' shrugged Pedroia. "It's not like it's a big deal or anything. We watch each other the most, so I just pointed out a couple of things. I hope it helps. I don't know.''
Boston Red Sox
The way Pedroia sees it, he's merely paying it forward for current teammates, the way some past teammates helped him when his major league career was in its infancy.
"When I was coming up,'' said Pedroia, "Alex Cora was big, Mike Lowell was big and into that. Everybody goes through tough times in this game. It's how you limit that. I don't want it to be 20 at-bats; you want it to be 10. So those guys helped me out a ton in finding things to help you get out of it right now, whether it's doing something mechanically or the pitches you're swinging at, or how they're pitching you.
"So, it's a constant adjustment and your teammates watch you the most.''
