Dustin Pedroia placed on the 10-day disabled list; Robby Scott recalled from Pawtucket

There were always fears that Dustin Pedroia’s knee injury that has prevented him from playing most of the month of August so far would creep back up again. The hope was that it wouldn’t be this quickly. The second baseman was able to play in exactly one game after returning from his initial DL stint before he was placed back on the shelf on Saturday. Robby Scott was promoted from Pawtucket to take Pedroia’s spot on the roster.

This is obviously a big blow to the Red Sox, who were looking like they were about to get fully healthy in their lineup and be able to show off some of their depth. Instead, it looks like we’ll be getting a whole lot of Eduardo Nuñez at second base instead of moving all around. In and of itself, this isn’t a horrible thing. Nuñez isn’t Pedroia with the glove but he’s good enough and the bat is certainly welcome in Boston’s lineup. However, Pedroia’s absence makes it less likely we’ll be able to see any string of days off for someone like Xander Bogaerts, who has been scuffling mightily at the plate. It’s unclear at this time how long the Red Sox expect to be without their veteran second baseman.

As for Scott, it was always kind of a surprise that he was in Pawtucket to begin with, though Fernando Abad has filled in solidly as the team’s primary lefty. Scott got off to a great start in the majors this year, but scuffled towards the end of his initial stint with the team before being demoted to Triple-A. The southpaw has tossed 7 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings for Pawtucket, though he has five strikeouts and five walks in that time. The move gives the Red Sox 13 pitchers and 12 position players on their active roster, so don’t be surprised if there’s another move to bring more normal balance over the next couple of days.