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The worry over Dustin Pedroia--or at least that portion of it caused by his removal from Tuesday's game--was all for nothing! Just two days after aggravating his thumb injury, Dustin Pedroia is back in the lineup, batting second against Carlos Zambrano and the Miami Marlins.
What remains worrisome is Dustin Pedroia's performance since the initial injury. While fans never want to see a player like Pedroia go on the disabled list, the case could be made for Pedey, who's hitting just .170/.237/.226, and not even his tremendous defense can make up for that. Playing through the pain is only admirable when it does not detract from the team as a whole.
The good news is that Pedroia showed a few signs of life in his last couple of games, picking up three hits in eight at bats, including two doubles. Hopefully the day off doesn't serve to cool him down at all.
Otherwise, it's a pretty typical lineup for the Red Sox, with Will Middlebrooks getting the start at third and Kevin Youkilis riding the pine. One wonders how many more times we'll see Adrian Gonzalez in right now that the team is able to field a reasonably productive outfield again.