The Boston Red Sox announced this afternoon that Dustin Pedroia underwent a “left knee joint preservation surgery.” Bill Koch of the Providence Journal tweeted out an article about that procedure from the Cleveland Clinic that said the surgery is an alternative to knee replacement. Pedroia is going to attempt to rehab the knee after recovering from surgery, so it made sense that he’d choose the less-invasive procedure, but the fact that that is the choice he’s facing suggests his knee is in super bad shape.
Pedroia, who turns 36 this month, played in only three games last year and appeared in just six games this year, accruing just three hits in 34 plate appearances. In May, after being placed back on the injured list, Pedroia said that he was unsure if he will ever play again.
It’s quite possible that this procedure is a last ditch effort in order to save his career.
UPDATE:
