Dustin Pedroia is a pesky little player, filled with talent. Not so obvious to scouts as he arose from what seemed like death, in terms of what those scouts thought of his baseball career. But now his “hand/eye coordination” is being noticed, as Keith Law stated recently in an E:60 interview in regards to Pedroia.
But Pedroia hasn’t hit for the same kind of power lately. His On Base Percentage is actually a percentage point higher than his Slugging.
Middle infielders don’t need to flash great power, especially when they field as well as Pedey. His BB% is at a career high, albeit a short career. 11.1% of the time now, Pedroia is taking a walk. And a reason for that is because Pedroia has been swinging only 39% of the time, down from 45%.
He is seeing fewer strikes, and I wonder if that is because pitchers know that he swings at a large amount of balls in the strike zone. So maybe they have adjusted and thrown Pedroia a few more balls outside of the zone this season.
My theory is that whatever adjustments Pedroia and pitchers have been making, Pedroia will eventually figure it out. I don’t expect him to Slug near .500. But that Slugging should end up in the .450 range, with a high average, high OBP, and very good defense at an up-the-middle position.
So don’t panic, fellow Red Sox fans. Pedroia will regain his “power stroke.”
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Not worrying. If he never hits another home run it wouldn’t matter, he brings so m any other things to game. Can win one in many different ways, a lot them not even showing up in the box scores.
The guys a gamer and a winner. His numbers I could care less.
I wonder if it’s time for Tito to re-set the BA with Ells leading off and Pedroia #2. If not ready for Papi yet, play JD there (left) as he is ready for his hot streak, and let Youk slide back to #4. Both of them are slumping badly, and this may have something to do with it. Ells OBP is hovering around .350, and he seems ready to absorb 6 AB’s per game again.
It’s also time for Tito to find a way to give Tek more rest. Kottaras is a fine hitter. Tek is slumping. 37 years old and playing 4 of 5 games is alot. Posada isn’t doing this. Both of them with adequate AB’s and rest could give the position .250/25/75/.350/.450, while being more aggressive and reducing mental mistakes behind the plate.
Sorry to go off topic, but what’s up with the lack of posts on actual Red Sox news? Dice-K to the DL and the subsequent ramifications. Pap to the Yankees chatter, not that I care but I’d assume people would want to chime in on that one. Seriously, what’s the deal?
Sorry Ted. I did just post something about Dice-K. But it wasn’t really in regards to the DL stint. Just on his contract, and ways i think he can improve.