There will be no late-season return for Dustin Pedroia after the Boston Red Sox second baseman was ruled out for the remainder of the MLB campaign.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced on Friday that Pedroia will not play again in 2018, while revealing the 35-year-old had arthroscopic knee surgery in July.
Pedroia – a four-time All-Star and 2008 American League MVP – played in only three games this season, all in late May. He opened the season on the disabled list after having a cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee last October.
That surgery was expected to sideline him for the early part of the 2018 season, but he never fully recovered and quickly shut down his return.
"Obviously, it's getting late in the year," said Pedroia, who is contracted for three more seasons. "We don't have games to play to build up, things like that. ... To risk everything for rushing to come back and play, I mean, I've had three surgeries on my knee in 10 months. It's probably not wise for my career and my life to do that, and the team pointed that out.
"You guys all know me. I'll do whatever I'm asked of. But I appreciate the way that they kind of stepped in and said, 'You know, don't [jeopardise] what's next. It'll change the way your everyday life is.' That's why."
There had been some hope Pedroia would be able to make it back toward the end of the season, but he had not played in any rehab games and the Red Sox opted to shut him down with an eye on 2019.
"I'll be ready, 100 percent," he said. "The issue I had was more of a scar tissue thing. It was kind of stuck to the area where I had surgery, and it was pulling on it, and obviously it was painful. We took care of that. Once that happened, I was pretty relieved.
"Just the way I felt, the way I was moving and the way I was recovering, I'm excited going forward. It stinks not being able to help out playing, but it's a part of it. You deal with it the best you can. Going forward, I'll be fine and back to normal."
Meanwhile, Red Sox ace Chris Sale will be activated from the disabled list on Tuesday having been sidelined with shoulder inflammation.
