Pedroia Promoted to Pawtucket

Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia took another step forward on his fast track to the major leagues, as the Red Sox promoted him to Pawtucket following Tuesday night's game. (So that's what Theo was doing there last night!) While I am very happy for Pedroia - he's got nothing left to prove at AA - I am sad to see him go. He's a special ballplayer, not the kind of guy who wows you as an athletic specimen, but just a great baseball player. Pedroia was moved to second base this year to enable Hanley Ramirez to stay at shortstop, and he fields the position like he's been there all of his life. He has terrific range to his right and left, a good arm, and he turns the double play well. But where Pedroia really shines is with the bat. He hits for average (.324 BA in 66 games), has great discipline (34 walks, .084 IsoD), makes the pitcher throw a lot of pitches, and he has good pop - not just "for a guy his size", but in general (.508 SLG, .184 IsoP, 8 HR). I don't know if Pedroia has what I would call a "high ceiling" because I think he's already a terrific ballplayer. I firmly believe that he's going to be a star at the major league level. He's a lot better player than the oft-compared David Eckstein, and he could probably perform as well as current Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn does right now. If he doesn't get traded (and I really hope he doesn't), Pedroia will be in Boston by the end of next season and taking his spot at the keystone at the start of 2007.

Pedroia's final AA line: 324/409/508-8-40 39 R, 19 2B, 2 3B, 7/10 SB, 34 BB, 26 K

Pedroia was 1-4 with a double in his AAA debut. Kenny Perez will be the new starting second baseman for the Sea Dogs. Ramirez, by the way, was named to this year's Futures All Star game.

Sox fans are going to love the fact that Pedroia does not strike out (more extra base hits than K's in his career), and they are going to watch the little guy choke up on the bat and swing from the heels. Best of luck, Dustin, we're lucky to have had the chance to see you play every day.