Ever since I can remember Dustin Pedroia has been my favorite player on the Sox. He was small, hustled, and played second base. My first number was 15 his number, when I started playing I told my coaches I was second basemen (I was terrible). He was a great player in my early childhood winning an MVP a rookie of the year and a handful of gold gloves, while appearing in a bunch of All Star games.

Over a seven year stretch he was the best second basemen in baseball. He hit .305/.372/.457 with an average of 16 homers 80 RBI’s and 20 stolen bases. He rarely struck out and was starting to get a bit more power as he aged. In 2010 he had his first injury missing 87 games. Then he had an off year hitting .276/.337/.376 with only 7 home runs and 6 stolen bases. Then for the next two years he was back hitting .308/.368/.446 averaging 18 homers and 76 RBI’s. But his defense and speed were slipping he only stole 9 bases those two years and his 2.0 dWAR was the lowest mark over a two year stretch since his cup of coffee in 2006 and his ROY season in 2007.

Since that point in 2016 Pedroia has played in just 114 games. Playing 105 in 2017, 3 in 2018, and 6 in 2019. Knee and wrist injuries severely hindered his career. As much as it pains me to say this but Pedroia is probably done. It is common for second basemens careers to be cut short earlier than expected. Chase Utley was the second basemen of the 2010s a power speed man where that just wasn’t happening at second base. But his last really good season was 2009, sure he continued through 2018 but he was never the same player. Both these guys may have been Hall of Famers had they continued playing as they did into their late 30s. Unfortunately this didn’t happen. Thanks for reading.