Red Sox Journal: Pedroia gets a hit in first game action of the year

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Dustin Pedroia made his first appearance in a spring training game for the Boston Red Sox, starting at second base and going 1-for-1 with a single and a run scored in a 12-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.

His first action occurred in the field in the top of the first, fielding a routine ground ball a few steps to his left and making the throw to first for the out. He then led off the game for the Sox and did something he [...]

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Dustin Pedroia made his first appearance in a spring training game for the Boston Red Sox, starting at second base and going 1-for-1 with a single and a run scored in a 12-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.

His first action occurred in the field in the top of the first, fielding a routine ground ball a few steps to his left and making the throw to first for the out. He then led off the game for the Sox and did something he didn’t intend to, taking a huge cut on high first-pitch fastball, resulting in a swing and miss.

“The guys were all [saying] the last couple days were, like, ‘You better swing at the first pitch,' " Pedroia said. “And I’m like, ‘I mean, I haven’t seen a pitch in a game since May.’ I really wasn’t going to swing at it but I saw it up there, I’m like, ‘Might as well let it fly.' "

Three pitches later on a 2-1 count, Pedroia snuck a ground ball through the hole between shortstop and third base for a single. He later advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored the lone Red Sox run of the day on a double by Rafael Devers.

“It felt good,” Pedroia said. “I went through everything today like a normal day but only played two innings. So, everything went good. So far, so good.”

In the time building up to this moment, Pedroia has been forced to make adjustments along the way to cater to his surgically repaired knee. One visible difference has been his trademark jump before every pitch, which has become a crucial part of the four-time Gold Glove Award winner’s routine. It was more of a hop or a skip on Thursday and is an adjustment he’s still working through.

“I mean [I’m] trying to modify the jump,” Pedroia said. “I mean, I don’t know. Everyone says, ‘Stop jumping all the time.’ Well, geez, you know, I’m trying. If a ball’s hit over here and I don’t get to it, you’re going to be like, ‘Can you get to that ball?’ I’m going to be like, ‘Hell, I got to jump.’ But I’m trying my best to limit extra movements and things like that, so, hopefully, I get it.”

He acknowledged that it was "fun to be out there” and expressed his gratitude for the fans’ applause throughout his brief appearance. But his focus remains on the field and with each movement he makes. Pedroia is fully confident he’ll be back on the field day-in and day-out again; otherwise, it’s likely no one else will have confidence that he can do it.

“When you’re coming back from something like this, no one thinks you can do it,” Pedroia said. “So, if I’m not confident about it, it’s not going to happen.

“I’m going to play good if I’m out there. That’s the bottom line. I just got to get — the only thing holding me back is my knee. If we get that fine, we’ll be good.”

Manager Alex Cora still plans to play Pedroia on Saturday at jetBlue Park against the Mets, as long as things go with Red Sox medical staff before that.

Learning on the job

From day one as manager of the Red Sox, Cora has made clear the importance of connecting with his players. While the old-school approach has been to create a definitive line between the players and coaching staff, Cora learned from both his experiences as a player and as bench coach with the Houston Astros that there is value in developing and fostering a relationship with every player on the roster.

In the past, Cora has mentioned the impact that Houston manager A.J. Hinch had on his development, but he’s not the only one who played a role in shaping the World Series-winning manager. Fellow Puerto Rican native Carlos Beltran helped Cora understand what worked and what didn’t in their time as player and coach, respectively, in Houston.

“I learned more from the relationship of me and Beltran,” Cora said. “We’re great friends off the field and, for us to work in the same clubhouse, him as a player [and] me as a bench coach and we were able to keep the relationship and obviously deal with a lot of stuff that happened in that clubhouse and make it better, that told me that, 'Yeah, this is the right way to do it.' "

Dealing with betting

Prior to Thursday’s game against the Twins, the Red Sox had an MLB security meeting. Among the topics was the issue of sports betting. Legalized betting has prompted a league-wide rule change that states teams must submit their final lineups directly to the commissioner’s office prior to informing players and the media so bettors cannot be tipped off.

The issue presents another obstacle that players and coaches have to deal with and keep in the backs of their minds.

“I think we all do. We all have concerns,” Cora said. “It’s a matter of staying true, I guess. Hopefully, nothing happens. It’s something new and we have to deal with it. The players know it. We know it, the organization does. We’ll do the best to follow the guidelines and do what we’re supposed to do. You think about all the stuff that can happen [before a game] and, yeah, it’s not that easy in that sense. But I think we’ll be fine.”