In April, the question was posed a tad differently, as in, “How bad is Dustin Pedroia?”
In September, he is the odds on favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year. The lesson? Patience, sometimes is a virtue.
Unless, of course, you are talking about J.D. Drew, which is subject for next week.
Pedroia’s success with the bat might be as important as any production on the team. While he doesn’t put up the production numbers of a power guy, he has made up for Julio Lugo, at least for a few months there in the middle.
Pedroia shows a few characteristics that might put him in the, ahem, “special” cateory:
1. He was able to mentally overcome a pathetic April.
2. He can hit pitches thrown anywhere — high, low, outside and inside. He’s out of the Nomar Garciaparra, free-swinging mode, which is a good thing around so many “walkers.”
3. He is clutch. And this is both offensively and defensively. Be honest, among the top three guys you want at the plate with the game on the line, he would be there with David Ortiz and, I’m not sure who else.
4. He can handle Boston. Again, this is a big deal. As we have seen, not everyone can handle the packed houses, swarm of media and incessant passion. The reason he can handle it is he loves baseball more than the Red Sox fans do.
5. He has a track record. This has been played a lot after the fact of his early slump. Everywhere he has been, and I mean everywhere, he has been a good hitter (.368 at Arizona State; .357 in 2004, A&AA; .293 in 2005, AA&AAA; .305 in 2060, AAA).
6. He’s got a dirt-dog nasty streak in him. While a little less demonstrative than Kevin Youkilis, who could have given Lou Piniella a run for it in terms of bad play-tantrum dept., Pedroia is as competitive as they come. He hates to lose. He also isn’t a big fan of the media, which probably scores him points with the fandom.
7. Bat speed. Former Red Sox manager Joe Morgan predicted Pedroia’s rise after his horrid April because “You can see how fast he swings. He has bat speed.”
The one issue that needs to be settled with him is where to put him in the lineup. If not for a slumping Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo, he might’ve settled in nicely at the back of the order. But it appears leadoff, second or ninth are where he will end up. Next year is a different question with Jacoby Ellsbury probably cementing the top spot (after Crisp is traded). For the playoffs, though, he doesn’t really have a home.
What would your ideal, everyday lineup be, keying on Pedroia’s whereabouts?
Let me know your thoughts on the Sox second baseman. While it is way to early to call him the next Marty Barrett or even better than Barrett, he appears to have the moxie to be one of the club’s most recent best.
Do you agree?
Coming next week: Can you count on a 41-year-old Tim Wakefield in the playoffs?
