Dustin Pedroia ‘moving towards’ surgery on thumb, manager says

By Maureen Mullen / Boston Globe

Photo: Dustin Pedroia is batting .278 this season with a .712 OPS.

Early Wednesday morning, Dustin Pedroia sat in front of his locker inside the Red Sox clubhouse. It was too early for him to have any more information than he had Tuesday night about the status of his ailing left hand/wrist, he said.

But an hour later, manager John Farrell said it was looking like Pedroia was “kind of moving that direction” toward surgery.

An official decision still has not been made, though.

“No, nothing definitive,” Farrell said. “He and we are still gathering information. It’s moving towards probably a procedure. But nothing definite is scheduled right now.”

If the decision is made for surgery, it would likely be scheduled for as soon as possible, Farrell said.

“I think that’s all being sorted through right now. I think it’s kind of moving in that direction,” Farrell said.

Pedroia underwent surgery last November to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb after playing all of the 2013 season with a torn ligament, which he suffered during a head-first slide into first base on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.

He re-injured his left hand during the home opener this year, on April 4 against the Brewers, before aggravating it again later in the season. He underwent an MRI on Tuesday, which revealed inflammation.

Pedroia has posted career lows for a full season in batting average (.278), on-base percentage (.337), slugging percentage (.376), home runs (7), doubles (33), total bases (207), and stolen bases (6), while grounding into 14 double plays, one behind David Ortiz for most on the team.

Despite the injury, he has appeared in 135 of the Sox’ 145 games so far this season.

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