Dustin Pedroia Heads To The DL

Dustin Pedroia avoided the disabled list the first time he hurt his thumb in 2012, but, possibly due to how poorly he played while dealing with that injury, this time around the Red Sox have reportedly put their second baseman on the DLafter he injured the other side of his thumb while attempting to make a diving catch against the Athletics.

The timing is poor, for multiple reasons: Pedroia finally seemed like he was over the torn adductor muscle in his thumb, hitting .302/.388/.465 over the last 11 games, Boston is set to open a four-game series with the Yankees on Friday, and third baseman Will Middlebrooks, while not on the DL, has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury.

This leaves Boston's infield, which has mostly been intact in 2012, somewhat thin, and right before the outfield is going to be whole for the first time all season. It's not a good thing that the lineup is at its weakest right before taking on the Yankees, who have opened up a lead on what is otherwise a tightly-packed American League East.

With Mauro Gomez already in the majors -- and apparently in the mix to play games at third with Middlebrooks out -- the lone infielder left on the 40-man roster who isn't already in Boston is Jose Iglesias. With the 40-man full up once more with Justin Germano's call-up, that means that someone will need to be designated in order to clear room for a Pedro Ciriaco promotion, or Rich Hill will need to be placed on the 60-day disabled list. It's unclear just yet whether it's going to be Iglesias or Ciriaco who gets the nod, as Iglesias might already be on the 40, but his presence in Boston would mean quite a bit of positional shuffling in order to get him in at short, whereas Ciriaco could just line up at second while Nick Punto handles third until Middlebrooks returns.