Waiting On Pedroia's Thumb

There hasn't been any definitive news just yet regarding Dustin Pedroia's injured thumb, but Nick Cafardo has a potentially-promising update on the appendage that saw the second baseman removed from Tuesday night's game:

The early feedback I'm getting from Red Sox on Pedroia is that his thumb is not as bad as first thought when he left last nights game.

— Nick Cafardo (@nickcafardo) June 20, 2012

That's a good sign, in the sense that it means Pedroia isn't likely to miss much time. On the other hand, as Pedroia has been dealing with the thumb issue for more than a month, and is hitting all of .170/.237/.226 since his six-game absence and has just a 500 OPS since he peaked in that stat back on May 12, maybe even if his thumb isn't as bad as thought, some time off would be beneficial.

I'm not a doctor, and, generally speaking, you aren't either, so we don't know if that's the case. However, you don't need to be a doctor to piece together just what is causing Pedroia to have trouble at the plate, as he's struggled during the entirety of the existence of the thumb issue.

Would more time off mean he needs to get his timing at the plate back once more, perpetuating the problem of lackluster performance? Or, even if that were the case, could the few extra days be what he needs for the thumb to feel right again? It's hard to tell, but to this point, playing through it hasn't exactly been the medicine he needs, either.