Pedroia appears to have strained an abdominal muscle at the WBC.

I don't know about you, but I believe that what this represents has the potential to be a much more serious problem than who starts at shortstop, or how many AB's Bard/Tek/random catcher gets. Serious injuries to Pedroia, Youkilis, or Bay--as well as, to a lesser extent, Lester or Beckett--pose a significantly larger threat to the long-term season than how much production we get from the bottom of the order.