Todd Claus, who has managed Dustin Pedroia in two stops during parts of two seasons, describes Dustin Pedroia this way:
"He's five-foot-nuthin', a hundred and nuthin', and he's all baseball player", says Claus, who guides the Bosox Double-A club in Portland.
The imagery is apt. Pedroia, who has fast-tracked his way through the Boston chain in little more than a year, since coming out of Arizona State (2004 June Draft, 2nd Rd.), looks like a ballplayer.
In 2004 he made his debut with the Augusta GreenJackets where he made the .400 club, with a .560 slugging percentage in 50 at-bats.
Pedroia was promoted to Sarasota, where he took 107 at-bats to finish the season with .336/.523 for that club and a .417 on-base percentage.
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Player: Dustin Pedroia
Position: Shortstop
Height: 5-8
Weight: 180
Birthdate: 08.17.83
College: Arizona State University (ASU)
Bats: R
Throws: R
Organization: Boston Red Sox
Acquired: Boston Red Sox, 2004 Draft, 2nd Round, 65th OA
Last Ballclub: Pawtucket Red Sox
2004 FAB50 Ranking: NR
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He can field on either side of the second base bag, and hit well to a broad swath of the field. He was batting .324/.508 (AVG/SLG) at Portland before his June 22 promotion to Pawtucket. Despite his small stature, Pedroia has shown some suprising pop at the plate driving 8 home runs and 40 RBI with Portland.
Pedroia played nothing but shortstop until this year, but with Edgar Renteria a fixture there with the big club, and the highly touted Hanley Ramirez (currently at Portland) standing in the way, Pedroia was moved by the Sox across the way to second, where he seems truly at home.
No doubt his arm, adequate but not intimidating, makes for a better fit on the right side.
"It doesn't matter where I play," Pedroia says. "Just as long as I'm out there."
Pedroia hit the groud running after making the jump to Pawtucket, hitting safely in his first four games. He was derailed by a fastball to his right hand, which shelved him initially for a week, then flared up again forcing him to sit for 12 more days.
He's completely healthy now, and took a seven-game hitting streak into the final four weeks of the season.
"I'm a player, not a sitter," said Pedroia.
Pedroia factors with the scouts and touts as an upper/mid pick on the Boston Red Sox farm. He is one of those players where the height and skills/drills vs. talent debate rages.
We position him in the lower forties of the MLN FAB50 in spite of his tremendous numbers because we get mixed signals on his destiny. Those closest to him on the farm say he's got the inside track to a spot on the 2006 Boston Red Sox roster. Others think he may get stuck in Pawtucket for a year or more.
We'd love to sit here and tell you that a guy with Pedroia's scrappiness and numbers should be a dead-bang lock for the big time, but we've seen too many guys who can really turn it on for their parent clubs get waylaid for a while because theory rules over fact. To wit, we offer one sage bit of advice on Pedroia:
He wins.
We would hope to see him on the Red Sox roster in 2006, or with a club that can utilize talent and heart that rises above charts and graphs.
- Dan Hickling contributed to this ranking.
