FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Boston Red Sox placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 60-day injured list Sunday, further putting in doubt whether the former AL MVP will play again.
The Red Sox made the move while claiming right-hander Phillips Valdez off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.
Pedroia, 36, has played just nine games over the last two seasons. The four-time All-Star has spent the time trying to recover from an injury he sustained when Baltimore’s Manny Machado slid spikes-high into his left knee in May 2017.
Pedroia has two years and $25 million remaining on his contract.
Earlier this month, Boston interim manager Ron Roenicke said Pedroia wouldn’t report to spring training with the rest of the position players.
“When a guy just ages and then he’s not as good, that part’s easy to see. But not a guy who has an injury and because of it has not been able to perform,” Roenicke said at the time. “That part is really difficult.”
This was the third straight spring the Red Sox were hoping Pedroia could return to the lineup. They signed infielder José Peraza to a one-year contract in December, and Michael Chavis also plays second base.
Pedroia is the longest-tenured player on the Red Sox roster. He was AL Rookie of the Year when Boston won the 2007 World Series, was AL MVP the next season and helped the Red Sox win another title in 2013.
Pedroia had surgery after the 2017 season and admitted to rushing back the next year. He played in only three games in late May before going back on the injured list as the Red Sox posted a franchise-record 108 wins and another crown.
Last season, Pedroia played just six games. Over the winter, the Red Sox said Pedroia had incurred a “significant setback” in his comeback bid.
Pedroia is a four-time Gold Glover with a career .299 batting average, 140 home runs and 725 RBI.
Valdez, 28, made his major league debut last season. He was 0-0 with a 3.94 ERA in 11 relief appearances for Texas. The Mariners claimed him off waivers from Texas in November.
SALE READY TO GO
Chris Sale is as slender as ever after recovering from a bout of pneumonia, but he said he doesn’t expect to miss any time.
“I think I’m going to be ready for (Opening Day),” he said. “But those aren’t my calls to make. I go out there, do my job, tell them how I feel on a daily basis. Obviously as the workload picks up, we have to see how things work out. I’ve just got to be open and honest with them and then we map out a plan and see how it works out.”
Sale caught the flu as pitchers and catchers were to report in early February, but was fighting through his illness to continue his pitching progress. The flu later turned to pneumonia, and Sale kept on throwing.
He said he’s recovered now.
“You have to build that back up,” he said. “Every step of the way has been good. I’ve been off the mound twice and will throw again (on Sunday). More pitches, more throwing. After that I think we’ll meet on Monday to go over the schedule, figure out where to go.”
Sale notoriously went through a reduced build-up plan last spring training. He didn’t debut until March 16, made just two starts spanning nine innings and then flew to Seattle for his Opening-Day start against the Mariners. He was rocked for seven runs, including three homers, while pitching with reduced velocity.
This year, Roenicke said the Red Sox will go back to a full spring workload for their starters and is hoping to get Sale (and the other starters) five or six starts.
“I don’t know if there’s any one specific thing that was the deciding factor (last year),” Sale said. “There were a lot of things that went into it. We threw a lot in the regular season (in 2018), threw a lot in the postseason, had a short offseason and all that stuff. I can give you all the excuses in the book but we just didn’t get it done.
“We have no excuse this year other than to go out there and get it done. I didn’t have a short offseason. I had the longest offseason of my life. Hopefully I’m sitting here a year from now telling you guys a different story.”
NARRON IS BENCH COACH
Roenicke is bringing back his old bench coach.
The Red Sox announced Saturday that Jerry Narron will take over as bench coach, the job vacated by Roenicke, who was named interim manager this spring after the departure of former manager Alex Cora.
Narron, 64, was Roenicke’s bench coach during his entire tenure as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers from 2011 until Roenicke was fired in ’15. He began his new job on Sunday.
“Just being around Ron in Milwaukee for almost five years being his bench coach there, I have a real good idea of how he wants to run things and the way he does the game,” Narron said. “And it’s nice. He’s an outstanding manager, a great communicator and looking forward to it here.”
Said Roenicke, “I wouldn’t do it just because he’s familiar with me. I’d do it because he’s really good.”
Narron was also the bench coach of the 2003 Red Sox under Grady Little.
“It’s like coming home after 17 years,” he said.
Narron was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ coaching staff the last three seasons. Originally their Triple-A manager, he was promoted to bench coach in April 2017 when Ron Gardenhire went on leave to battle cancer. Narron was named the full-time bench coach in 2018 and 2019 before he departed Torey Lovullo’s staff this past offseason.
As a manager, Narron never had a winning season. He went 134-162 with the Texas Rangers from 2001 to ’02 and 157-179 with the Cincinnati Reds from ’05 to ’07.
SUNDAY’S GAME
Dwight Smith Jr. had two hits, driving in a run for Baltimore in an 11-5 win at Sarasota, Florida. Rio Ruiz added a run-scoring single. Wade LeBlanc got the start, allowing one hit in two shutout innings with two strikeouts.
Kevin Plawecki had an RBI single for Boston. Top 5 prospect Jeter Downs, who was acquired when the Red Sox sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, went 0 for 3 in his first action. Jarren Duran, who played 82 games with the Sea Dogs last summer, was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
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