Pedroia The Destroyah For MVP
By Brendon Rosenau
Love of Sports Correspondent
If the A.L. MVP award was to be voted on today, who would you vote for?
Josh Hamilton? Carlos Quentin? Maybe you’d go with Cliff Lee and his 20-2 record.
All good choices for sure. But how about adding another name to the mix.
What about Dustin Pedroia.
“Pedroia the Destroyah” is having an MVP caliber season, and his production has gone largely unnoticed. Hard to imagine, considering he’s playing in the center of the baseball universe, but Pedroia’s been overshadowed by the other superstars in Beantown.
Sure, he was voted a starter in the All-Star Game, but that was the fans’ choice and largely a popularity contest. The second baseman deserves to be noticed by the media voters - and here’s why.
Pedroia’s been one of only two players to play in at least 120 games (135) for the wild card-leading Red Sox. On a team hit hard by injuries, his steady production’s kept the team primed for the playoffs.
Hitting primarily in the two-hole, Pedroia’s hitting an AL-leading .328 with a major league-leading 106 runs scored, 43 doubles (fourth in MLB), 16 home runs, 75 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He leads all of baseball in both runs and hits (188) and is second in the A.L. in doubles and total bases (284).
What we’re seeing is a potential final stat line of roughly 125 runs, 220 hits, 50 doubles and 20 homers. The only other player at his position in the A.L. with similar numbers is Ian Kinsler, but he’s been on the D.L. and could be out the rest of the year. Plus, Kinsler can’t hold a candle to Pedroia’s glove work. The Sox’s second sacker’s made just six errors on the year, and his .990 fielding percentage is fifth in baseball. The other hitters on the list are the big boppers, and the only categories they outshine Pedroia in are homers, RBI and slugging.
Overall stats are one thing, but Pedroia hits better when the pressure’s on. For example, in the seventh inning or later, he’s batting .322 with 14 doubles and 27 RBI. He’s 7-for-14 with 16 RBI with the sacks full and hits .417 with runners on third and less than two outs.
Against teams still in the playoff hunt, he’s batting better than .300 against all of them, including a 9-15 mark against the Rays tandem of Scott Kazmir and James Shields.
In the clubhouse, he’s become a leader, despite the fact he just turned 25. His confidence, which borders on flat out cockiness at times, is unchallenged.
This season, the Red Sox have survived D.L. stints by David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, J.D. Drew and the trade of Manny Ramirez. One of the few constants on the team has been the production of Pedroia. If that doesn’t spell Most Valuable Player, then nothing does.
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Comments
Dan on 09/03 at 08:54 AM
While I’m with you that Pedroia needs to be considered, I had to laugh at this sentence: “The other hitters on the list are the big boppers, and the only categories they outshine Pedroia in are homers, RBI and slugging.”
“Only”? Last I checked, homers, RBI, and slugging were pretty important. Tough for the little guys to get the awards, but I wouldn’t quibble with Pedroia winning MVP this year. And I’m a Bronx-born Yankee fan!
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