'08 Outlook for Dustin Pedroia

'07 Season: The Red Sox finally found a long term solution at 2nd with Dustin Pedroia. The rookie started the season at a snails pace batting just .182 in April. The fans and the press started to get on Francona for sticking with Pedroia. The patience paid off as he hit .415 in may and became a dependable hitter near the top of the Red Sox order and became the American League's Rookie of the Year. He hit .283 in the post season with 2 HR's including the big homer against the Tribe in game 7 of the ALCS. He accomplished all of this with a broken bone in his hand.

'08 Outlook: Pedroia will have to avoid the sophomore slump in '08 but he has shown he is not afraid of anything and is not the typical MLB player. With surgery on his hand last season and a full recovery he should have good numbers in the upcoming season. He will benefit from having Jacoby Ellsbury bat in front of him instead of Lugo. Ellsbury will be a pitchers nightmare on the base paths causing distractions that will benefit Pedroia at the plate. He did hit 8 HR's which is amazing for his size but he does benefit from the dimensions of Fenway. Conventional wisdom says second year players will decline now that pitchers have found the holes in their swings but Pedroia has shown he can bounce back from a slump and does not get intimidated. He will hit over .300 and his RBI numbers will be up with Jacoby batting in front of him.