Dustin Pedroia Placed On DL; Joe Kelly Sent To Triple-A Pawtucket
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox earned a win on Wednesday night, but it came at a steep cost.
Dustin Pedroia, who leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage, suffered a leg injury while rounding first base, and on Thursday, the second baseman was placed on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain.
"He's the heart and soul of our team," manager John Farrell said of Pedroia. "The way he plays, what he means in the clubhouse, what he means on the field with his performance, he's probably having a career year to date. Hopefully this is on the shorter end of the time missed. In other words, after the 15 days, hopefully he comes back to us, but there's no projected date on his return. He'll be back as soon as he's capable."
The Red Sox did avoid further damage, as Hanley Ramirez also took a line drive off the wrist in Wednesday night's game. Though Ramirez is out of the Sox lineup on Thursday, he will avoid a trip to the DL.
In other transaction news, the Red Sox called up outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., infielder Deven Marrero and pitcher Jonathan Aro. The team DFA'd catcher Erik Kratz and sent Joe Kelly down to Triple-A Pawtucket.
"The options would have been to put [Kelly] in the bullpen or send him down to start," Farrell said. "This centers around consistent command of the baseball and his pitches. It's certainly not 'stuff,' it's not athleticism. The frustrating part of this for Joe and all involved is when you see an athlete of his ability and doesn't translate to the consistent command of his pitches, that's what is continually being addressed. And it felt like the uncertainty of a pitching schedule coming out of the bullpen, [he'll be] best served to achieve this through consistent work in between starts and starting at Pawtucket."
Kelly is 2-5 with a 5.67 ERA this year.
Justin Masterson will make the start which Kelly was scheduled to make on Sunday.
