In October 2016, Dustin Pedroia had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and spent the offseason recovering. Then Manny Machado spiked Pedroia at second base in April, 2017 and his left knee has never been the same.
After playing through discomfort and being limited to just 105 games that season, Pedroia had a cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee that November. The surgery involved grafting cartilage from a cadaver to fit into the damaged area.
Nearly a year-and-a-half later, Pedroia still isn’t fully healed and will begin yet another season on the disabled list.
The Red Sox initially believed that Pedroia would be able to play most of the 2018 season. That proved to be wildly optimistic. After missing the first two months, Pedroia returned on May 26, only to be put back on the DL after just three games. Despite the advanced surgical technique, the second baseman was again sidelined after just 11 at-bats.
Following that disappointing outcome, Pedroia underwent arthroscopic surgery on the same knee at the end of May, which uncovered scar tissue as the root of the problem. He then underwent a second arthroscopic procedure last August.
That amounted to a total of three knee surgeries in just 10 months and four in 26 months. Pedroia says he now has reservations about the original cartilage restoration procedure.
"No, I wouldn't have done it,” he said recently. "I don't regret doing it, but looking back and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done it,”
No position player has ever undergone the cartilage restoration surgery Pedroia endured, so there is no template for his recovery. However, one pitcher who had the procedure happens to be one of Pedroia’s teammates.
Steven Wright underwent the same surgery on his left knee in May of 2017, yet recently admitted, “I don’t think I’m ever going to feel 100 percent like I did before I hurt my knee."
That's got to be of great concern to the Red Sox and Pedroia. As a second baseman and a hitter, Pedroia needs more mobility and agility than Wright. His defense has always been well above average. In fact, he is the first Red Sox infielder to win four Gold Gloves. All of that is now at risk.
There's a good chance that Pedroia, like Wright, will never fully recover and return to being the star player he once was. That's worrisome.
The 35-year-old has three seasons remaining on his contract and is owed $40 million over that span. His eight-year, $110 million pact continues through his age-37 season.
Pedroia remained productive throughout his early 30s, slashing .296/.360/.415 over 2,195 plate appearances from 2014-2017. But he’s been limited to just 108 games over the last two seasons and faces nothing but questions about his future as he begins yet another season on the DL.
Though we may not have seen the last of Pedroia, we’ve likely see the best of him.
This isn’t what anyone imagined just a couple of years ago, least of all Pedroia himself.
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