Making such a decision following the Red Sox' six-game losing streak last week and falling well out of first place in the division sounds crazy, right? Wrong.
Pedroia has been pretty busy as of late to say the least. The second baseman not only started and completed Boston's last nine games in nine straight days, he did so in three different cities.
Following 10 plate appearances in 22 innings in a two-game set in Tampa Bay, Pedroia and the Sox flew up to New York where he notched 20 at-bats in four nights over 42 grueling innings, a series in which one of the games lasted nearly six hours.
He wasn't done there — not by any means. Following the Sunday night tilt in the Bronx, a game that ended well after 11 p.m., the team flew back home to Boston to prepare for another four-game series against the first-place Tigers starting Monday night. After 14 plate appearances in 27 innings through the first three games against the Tigers, the scrappy Pedroia's batteries simply wore out.
And whose wouldn't? In the span of nine days, he had traveled over 1,200 miles, played in 91 innings and made 44 plate appearances. He did so at the top of his game in front of AL East crowds, some filled with the game's loudest and most knowledgeable fans.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting sore just thinking about it.
"He's played a lot and he looks like he needs it," Francona told the Boston Globe before Thursday's game. "He started to fight hard to play … [but] he eventually realized he needs [the time off]."
But why Thursday? Why on the brink of a momentum-building, four-game sweep? Why not wait until Monday when the team has its first off-day in two weeks?
Here's why: The Red Sox are heading to Texas where they'll take on the Rangers, who sit just 1/2 game behind Tito's crew in the wild-card standings. Francona needs Pedroia at the top of his game this weekend and his thinking is that sitting him out for one game against the Tigers is worth having him at full speed in the Lone Star State.
Boston hasn't had its way with manager Ron Washington's crew. The Sox are just 1-5 against Texas this season, including 0-3 at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers, who are 37-21 at home this year, are coming off of a 10-game road trip, returning to the building where they are 9-2 in their last 11 games.
As it turns out, Boston lost the series finale against Detroit without Pedie in the lineup. Apologies to those who brought their brooms to Fenway on Thursday afternoon.
However, for those who want to see Pedroia evade being burnt out in the long run and want to watch the Red Sox separate themselves from the Rangers this weekend in Texas, be sure to thank Francona for making this decision.
