Dustin Pedroia will undergo an MRI on his left ankle and knee on Monday, Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Jen McCaffrey and The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham). After suffering the injury on a hard slide from Manny Machado on Friday, Pedroia sat out Saturday’s game and is also not in Sunday’s lineup, as Farrell said the swelling around Pedroia’s lower leg area hasn’t yet subsided. While the MRI is being performed “just to rule anything out,” according to Farrell, it’s worth noting that Pedroia underwent surgery on that same knee to remove part of his meniscus last October.
Here’s more from around the baseball world…
- J.D. Martinez could return from the DL in late April or early May, Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jason Beck). This is the latest in a series of positive reports on Martinez, who suffered a lisfranc sprain in his left foot during Spring Training. The original timeline had Martinez not even beginning baseball activities until mid-April, though the slugging outfielder has been ahead of schedule, including feeling better than expected during light running drills on Friday. The Tigers will reportedly be cautious with Martinez, which isn’t any surprise given the tricky nature of lisfranc injuries and Martinez’s importance to Detroit’s lineup.
- “The rumors of [Hunter Greene] and his family attempting to maneuver his way to the No. 3 pick with the Padres are a poorly kept secret,” Baseball America’s John Manuel writes as part of a mock draft. Greene, a high school pitcher/shortstop, reportedly wants to be a Padre for geographical (Greene is from Los Angeles) and baseball-related reasons, as the Padres’ throwing program more closely matches Greene’s own throwing program. Interestingly, Greene is believed to be shutting down as a pitcher, perhaps in part to lower his draft stock so that Minnesota and Cincinnati pass on him with the first two picks and Greene winds up in San Diego. Then again, the Reds “aren’t afraid to call Greene’s bluff,” Manuel writes.
- Manuel’s piece is well worth a full read, as he details potential needs, leanings, and first-round draft picks for all 30 teams. Sticking with the top of the draft, the Reds “covet” Brendan McKay, the Louisville two-way star who Manuel projects will be taken first overall by the Twins as a pitcher. Then again, Minnesota is also reportedly exploring deals with several players for the first pick, including high school position player Royce Lewis and Virginia first baseman Pavin Smith.
- Teams showed an increased willingness to pay for pitch-framing ability and defense this winter (such as the Twins and Jason Castro) on the catching market, though as Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com notes, there are so many facets to the position that “catching cannot be quantified” no matter how hard teams try. The same could technically be said of any position, though a catcher’s true value is particularly difficult to pin down since the human element of the pitcher/catcher relationship is so important.
