Injury hampers Pedroia at Red Sox camp

03/13/2006
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After being named as the Red Sox's No. 5 prospect by Baseball America -- including the organization's best hitter for average, best hitter with strike-zone discipline and best defensive infielder -- Dustin Pedroia entered this spring looking to make an impression.
But an awkward swing on a strikeout against the Twins in the team's first Spring Training game on March 2 has left Pedroia sidelined with a strain of his left (non-throwing) shoulder. It is doubtful he will see any more games at the big-league level this spring.
"Right when I started swinging, it happened," he said. "It was weird. I could feel it, and that was about it.
"It's unfortunate that it happened, but it's one of those things. I can't control it. It was kind of a freak deal what happened. It's nothing that I could have prevented. I worked extremely hard in the offseason to prevent injury, and then my first swing, what happens? It [stinks], but I'll be back soon. I'll be fine."
The teams' first pick (65th overall) in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University, Pedroia said he is trying to take what he can from the experience of being in big-league camp this spring.
"Just watching all the guys and seeing how they do things and just learning from them has been awesome," he said. "I've just been trying to watch everybody. That's the main thing -- just trying to take something from their game and use it in mine."
Pedroia, 22, was an All-American at Arizona State and just the fourth Sun Devil to be named All-Pac 10 three straight years, finishing second in Pac-10 player of the year voting in 2004, after winning the award in 2003.
He is often described as durable (he started all 185 games of his college career), old-school and hard-nosed, with a superb work ethic.
Pedroia survived the team's first round of roster cuts on Monday, and manager Terry Francona said the infielder will likely stay with the Red Sox for about another week, but it's unlikely he will play.
"That's not for at-bats," Francona said. "He's not going to play. That's just strictly medical. Let him get some one-on-one work with the medical staff. I would doubt very seriously if we would see him play in this camp."
Francona admitted he was somewhat disappointed by that.
"Yeah, just because I was really excited about watching him play," he said. "But that's the way it goes. When you hear so much about this kid and how he plays the game, it's nice to put some actions with the reports you get."
Pedroia hit a combined .293 last season, splitting time between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. Demonstrating his plate discipline, he has 77 walks to go against 50 strikeouts in 617 at-bats in his Minor League career.
Pedroia also showed off some versatility, playing 97 games at second base and 16 games at shortstop, and he said he has no preference for where he plays.
In 2005, his first full pro season, Pedroia was named the Red Sox's Minor League offensive player of the year, and he earned a promotion on June 22 to Pawtucket. But a wrist injury slowed him down. After hitting .324 in 66 games at Portland, he hit just .255 in 51 games in Pawtucket.
His fielding was also affected some by the wrist injury, as his errors total climbed from two with Portland to five with Pawtucket, after he had not committed one in 42 games at the Class A level in 2004.
Pedroia, who seems to sport a permanent grin, said he learned from that injury.
"I don't want what happened last year [to happen again] when I hurt my wrist and tried to play through it," he said. "It's been tough, but I'm just trying to stay positive. It's not career ending. It's kind of a mild deal, but it's definitely frustrating to miss a couple of weeks. But I'll be fine."
Pedroia said Monday he has resumed all baseball activities except swinging a bat, and he hopes to do so by the weekend.
Big-league fans may not have seen the last of Pedroia this season. Francona said a mid-season callup remains a possibility.

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/