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October 29, 2007

Player Profile

Dustin Pedroia

by Marc Normandin

Now that Dustin Pedroia's rookie season is officially over with the conclusion of the World Series Sunday night, it's time to take a look back at what went right for him this year, as well as what we can expect from the young second baseman going forward.

Pedroia was a force at the plate for three years at Arizona State as the team's shortstop, winning a slew of awards. He was named Freshman Second Team All-America shortstop and Pac-10 Conference All-Star shortstop in 2002, Summer League First-Team All-American shortstop, Tempe Regional MVP for the College World Series, Second Team All-American shortstop and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2003, then First Team All-American shortstop and another Pac-10 Player of the Year award in 2004. The performance merited his multitude of awards:

Year Team                  AB   AVG/ OBP/ SLG  XBH%  ISO  2B+3B   BB%     K%
2002 Arizona State(NCAA)  236  .347/.417/.432   20% .085   15     9.0%   7.1%
2003 Arizona State(NCAA)  297  .404/.472/.579   34% .175   37    10.4%   3.8%
2004 Arizona State(NCAA)  244  .393/.502/.611   35% .218   25    15.9%   5.0%

Pedroia's control of the strike zone stands out more than anything else; his low K% was a huge reason for his .400 batting average, but he wasn't just avoiding strikeouts by hacking—Pedroia also managed to walk 23 times more than he struck out in 2003, and 33 more times in 2004. Overall, Pedroia was a powerful doubles hitter with excellent plate discipline and control of the zone, and in recognition of those talents, the Red Sox selected him in the 2004 amateur entry draft with the 65^th overall pick in the second round.

Pedroia's hitting did not stop with his professional debut at Augusta in the Sally League; in fact, he hit so well there that the Sox promoted him to High-A before season's end, where the 20-year old continued to smash the ball down the lines for extra bases:

Year Team           AB   AVG/ OBP/ SLG  XBH%  ISO  2B+3B   BB%     K%
2004 Augusta(A)     50  .400/.474/.560   30% .160    6    10.5%   5.3%
2004 Sarasota(A+)  107  .336/.417/.523   36% .187   11    10.2%   3.1%

At just over 150 at-bats, the sample is small, but Pedroia still managed to walk much more than he struck out, and had more extra-base hits than strikeouts at both stops. If you're looking for a neat piece of information on Pedroia's minor league career, you can't beat the fact that in 1040 career minor league at-bats, he struck out just 77 times, while accumulating 125 walks and 100 extra-base hits; Pedroia never struck out more than he walked at any stop in the minors, and only his half-season at Pawtucket in 2005 saw him strike out more than he smacked extra bases.