Sox aren't giving up on Dustin Pedroia playing this season

BOSTON — Tuesday afternoon’s pregame at Fenway Park featured updates on a pair of injured Red Sox middle infielders.

Whether or not one provides a cautionary tale for the next could shape the Boston roster through the remainder of the 2018 season and beyond.

Marco Hernandez (left shoulder) underwent his third surgery in the last 14 months, this one taking place in Colorado. His year is officially over before it began, with Hernandez last seeing action against the Orioles in May 2017. The subluxation he suffered attempting to field a ground ball at third base has never fully healed, with the 25-year-old Hernandez stuck on 109 career at-bats.

“It was one of those that we thought the whole time he was going to be fine,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It just didn’t work, didn’t work, didn’t work, and we had to do it.”

That brings us, of course, to the doorstep of Dustin Pedroia. He’ll be receiving his fan mail in Arizona for the immediate future, decamping to his college home to continue his rehab from offseason left knee surgery. The former Arizona State star has played exactly three more games than Hernandez in 2018 and landed on the disabled list again June 2 while battling inflammation in the joint.

“I expect him to play, yes,” Cora said. “Like I’ve been saying all along — and it didn’t happen the first time — when he comes back it’s to stay healthy and play.”

Cora made that statement early in a press conference that lasted for nearly 20 minutes. When the subject circled back to Pedroia again just before the end of the briefing, Cora seemed to take a different tone.

“I do feel we’re going to see positive results,” Cora said. “I still hope he’s going to play with us this season.”

There would seem to be a considerable difference between “expect” and “hope.”

Pedroia spent last week in New York with his surgeon, Dr. Riley Williams III, devising a plan going forward. With cartilage restoration traditionally being reserved for basketball players, Pedroia and Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright are akin to test cases on the diamond after both undergoing the procedure inside the last 13 months.

And it was here that Cora admitted something Pedroia, Wright and the rest of the Boston brass likely could not. He doesn’t truly know if the 34-year-old Pedroia will play again for the Red Sox this season. The club’s medical staff, a noted orthopedic surgeon like Williams and Cora could well be on the same level when it comes to diagnosing the four-time all-star’s availability going forward.

“Obviously, they’ve been around this process for a longer period of time,” Cora said. “I’m in the learning period. That’s all I can tell you.”

The business of baseball and professional athletics being what it is, the relative cost to Boston if Hernandez and Wright never return is small. Both could be non-tendered and designated for assignment after the season should they not regain full health.

But the Red Sox owe Pedroia more than $30 million on a contract that runs through the 2021 season, and they’re already pushing the upper reaches of Major League Baseball’s luxury tax threshold.

“The most important thing is for him to be healthy,” Cora said. “This is not about just contributing this year. We’re talking about him playing for us for the rest of his career. That’s the most important thing.”

Whether or not the rest of Pedroia’s career includes being active this season — or any subsequent seasons — remains to be seen. For now, at least, Pedroia will spend the coming weeks in something of a baseball exile more than 2,200 miles away. That Boston started 62-39 in his absence speaks to how effective Cora has been at moving the Red Sox forward, something he might have to get used to for the immediate future and beyond.

“We’re not going to put a timetable on this,” Cora said. “We’ll take it day by day and go from there.”