JAWS and the 2026 Corridor of Fame Poll: Dustin Pedroia

The next article is a part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing take a look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2026 Corridor of Fame poll. For an in depth introduction to this 12 months’s poll, and different candidates within the collection, use the instrument above; an introduction to JAWS may be discovered right here. For a tentative schedule, and an opportunity to fill out a Corridor of Fame poll for our crowdsourcing undertaking, see right here. All WAR figures seek advice from the Baseball Reference model except in any other case indicated.

Due to his dimension — formally 5-foot-9 and 170 kilos, however by his personal admission, a pair inches shorter — Dustin Pedroia was persistently underestimated. Although he took to baseball as a toddler and excelled all over highschool and at Arizona State College, scouts considered him as having below-average instruments due to his stature. He barely grazed prospect lists earlier than reaching the majors, however as soon as he settled in, he rapidly excelled. He received American League Rookie of the 12 months honors whereas serving to the Crimson Sox win the 2007 World Sequence, then took residence the MVP award the following 12 months, when he was simply 24.

Over the course of his 14-year profession, Pedroia performed a pivotal function in serving to the Crimson Sox win yet one more World Sequence, made 4 All-Star groups, and banked 4 Gold Gloves. Understandably, he grew to become a fan favourite, not just for his stellar play however due to the way in which he carried himself, radiating self-confidence to the purpose of cockiness, and at all times fast with a quip. “Pedie by no means shuts up, man,” Manny Ramirez informed ESPN Journal’s Jeff Bradley for a 2008 piece known as “170 Kilos of Mouth.” Continued Ramirez, “He’s somewhat loopy. However that’s why we love him. He talks large and makes us all chortle.”

“I like to learn and listen to that persons are doubting his means,” common supervisor Theo Epstein informed Bradley, “as a result of what normally follows is that he goes out and, as he says, hits some lasers.”

Simply as spectacular as Pedroia’s efficiency was his resiliency and toughness. Taking groundballs on his knees simply days after fracturing a foot, as he did in 2010, could not have been the easiest way to heal, however it demonstrated his dedication to play, setting the stage for his battles with different accidents. He tore a ligament in his left thumb on Opening Day in 2013, but performed although it, making one other All-Star staff and profitable one other World Sequence earlier than submitting to surgical procedure. The following 12 months, he injured his left wrist within the season’s first week, and performed into September, present process surgical procedure solely when it was clear the Crimson Sox had been out of the race.

Pedroia seemed to be constructing a profession worthy of Cooperstown when a tough — some say soiled — slide by Manny Machado into his surgically repaired left knee tore cartilage off the bone. He gutted out the remainder of the 2017 season, then endured surgical procedure after surgical procedure in an effort to return, however performed in simply 9 main league video games in 2018–19 earlier than conceding it was time to maneuver on. His knee damage prevented him from compiling the profession totals that may assure election to the Corridor of Fame, however like 2024 first-year candidate David Wright, whose personal profession was equally curtailed, Pedroia garnered sufficient assist to stay on the poll (11.9%, in his case) and — given latest electoral historical past — to counsel the door to Cooperstown isn’t completely shut. Between the mix of this week’s election of Jeff Kent through the Modern Baseball Period Committee and a relatively mild BBWAA poll, voters could take into account including him to spherical out their ballots.

Dustin Luis Pedroia was born on August 17, 1983 in Woodland, California, close to Sacramento. His dad and mom, Man and Debbie Pedroia, labored double shifts at a tire store in Woodland, ultimately saving up sufficient cash to purchase it. Each had athletic backgrounds: Man performed softball for a nationwide journey staff, whereas Debbie performed tennis at Sacramento Metropolis Faculty; her brother, Phil Snow, grew to become an NFL linebackers coach. Dustin’s older brother, Brett Pedroia (b. 1978) performed baseball at Shasta Junior Faculty in Redding, California.

At 18 months outdated, Dustin found a tiny picket bat “and began swinging at every thing that moved: tennis balls, ping-pong balls, balls of tinfoil,” wrote the Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler in 2008. Sadly, in line with Hohler, that additionally included the household’s pet child goose, which… effectively, use your creativeness.

When Dustin started taking part in T-ball, the hypercompetitive Debbie coached the staff, operating up the rating towards different squads till Man informed her to chill it. Man spent hours along with his sons within the household’s yard, pitching batting apply however with a situation. “If [Dustin] was going to swing the bat 200 instances, he was going to take 200 floor balls,” Man informed Hohler. “I knew at his dimension that he wasn’t going anyplace if he wasn’t nearly as good defensively as he was offensively.”

The Pedroia boys took hitting instruction from former main leaguer Wealthy Chiles; as a seven-year-old, Dustin confronted 50-mph pitches from a machine. “He even let the ball hit him,” Chiles informed Hohler. “Proper then, I knew there was no worry in him.”

At 12, Dustin led a staff that fell one sport wanting qualifying for the Little League World Sequence. At Woodland Excessive College, regardless of being simply 5-foot-6 and 140 kilos, he quarterbacked the freshman staff till a success from future NFL linebacker Lance Briggs broke his ankle and required surgical procedure. Even so, he nonetheless made the varsity baseball staff as a freshman and earned All-League honors thrice. In the course of the summer time, he performed journey ball for a staff in Carson Metropolis, Nevada that additionally included future main league pitcher J.P. Howell. As a senior at Woodland Excessive, he was the league’s MVP and the Metro Participant of the 12 months.

Undrafted out of highschool on account of considerations about his dimension, Pedroia was nonetheless recruited by powerhouse school applications together with Miami, Texas, and Tulane. He selected Arizona State College after assembly with coach Pat Murphy (now the Brewers’ supervisor), who hadn’t really seen him play as a result of he was teaching within the Olympics. The scouting report from recruiter Jay Sferra: “He’s a mouthy, cocky child who’s solely about 5-foot-6, however he can actually play.” Extra from Hohler:

“He walked into my workplace in a cutoff white T-shirt, his pores and skin was as white because the T-shirt, and he had the physique of a sixth grader,” Murphy recalled.

In a classic Pedroia second, {the teenager} flexed his biceps and mentioned, “Hey, coach, how do you want these weapons?”

As Pedroia recalled, Murphy solely supplied him a 30% scholarship whereas different faculties had been providing full rides. “I known as him again, I’m like, ‘Hey hear, man. What makes you suppose that I wanna come play for you and take a 30% scholarship when groups that beat your ass the 12 months earlier than are providing me 100?… I’m taking part in to win.’ And he goes, ‘Man, should you can play nearly as good as you speak, you’re gonna be actually good.’” Murphy upped the scholarship supply, and Pedroia dedicated; the following 12 months he gave the scholarship again in order that the staff may add one other participant.

Pedroia’s profession at ASU, the place he performed shortstop, was legendary. He began all 185 video games throughout his three seasons there, every of which earned him First-Crew All-Pac-10 honors. He was named the Nationwide Defensive Participant of the 12 months in 2003, and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award in ’04, however misplaced to Jered Weaver.

At ASU, Pedroia grew to become an on-base machine. “Coach informed me that I may get on base anytime I wished. He gave me an actual method to hitting that helped me a ton,” Pedroia informed Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein in 2006. “He taught me learn how to lay off unhealthy pitches and keep away from stuff on the corners, and {that a} true hitting philosophy didn’t revolve utterly round getting hits.”

As if his recruiting dialog hadn’t made it obvious, Pedroia’s confidence was already off the charts. “He’d are available in and say, ‘Laser present right this moment, laser present right this moment, I’m going to hit bombs right this moment,’ then he’d exit and do it,” recalled ASU sports activities info director Jeff Evans in 2015.

At ASU, Pedroia crossed paths with Ian Kinsler, who transferred from Central Arizona Faculty as a sophomore. The plan was for Kinsler to start out at shortstop and Pedroia to shift to second base, however the newcomer struggled and was benched. Pedroia returned to shortstop, whereas Kinsler transferred to Missouri for his junior 12 months.

Throughout his time at ASU, Pedroia was the beginning shortstop for Crew USA in each 2002 and ’03, serving to them to a silver medal on the Pan Am Video games within the latter 12 months. Later, he informed Goldstein that his publicity to taking part in with wooden bats in worldwide competitors was an enormous cause for his instant skilled success.

The Crimson Sox selected Pedroia with the sixty fifth choose of the 2004 draft. He was the eighth shortstop taken, with prime general choose Matt Bush, Stephen Drew, Trevor Plouffe, and Reid Brignac amongst these chosen forward of him. The Crimson Sox had misplaced their first spherical choose to the A’s for signing free agent Keith Foulke. As staff president Sam Kennedy recalled throughout his introductory cellphone name with Epstein, Pedroia — who was unaware of the the staff’s draft scenario — openly requested, “Bro. Sixty-fifth? What took you so freaking lengthy? I’ve gotta get to the large leagues and I’m able to win championships for the Crimson Sox.”

Pedroia signed for a $575,000 bonus in late July. He was initially assigned to A-level Augusta of the South Atlantic League; supervisor Chad Epperson felt the younger shortstop wasn’t in form and didn’t play him for practically per week. When Pedroia lastly performed, he went 4-for-4 with two walks and 5 runs scored in a 13-inning sport. After simply 12 video games, he was promoted to Excessive-A Sarasota; in all, he hit .357/.435/.535 with 19 walks and simply seven strikeouts in 42 video games break up between the 2 stops.

When farm director Ben Cherington informed him he can be reassigned to Excessive-A to start out the 2005 season, Pedroia expressed his displeasure, however by the top of spring coaching, the Crimson Sox determined to ship him to Double-A Portland, albeit on the situation that he shift to second base to accommodate shortstop Hanley Ramirez (who, like Kinsler, debuted alongside Pedroia on the 2025 poll, however didn’t obtain sufficient assist to stay eligible). Pedroia accepted the transfer, hit .324/.409/.508 in 66 video games, and was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket. He anticipated to achieve the majors that 12 months, however inside per week of his promotion, he was hit on the left wrist by a pitch and didn’t totally get well, slugging simply .382 throughout his stint there.

Within the spring of 2006, Baseball America ranked Pedroia 77th on its High 100 Prospects listing, however supplied a blended evaluation. The publication praised his hand-eye coordination, strike zone self-discipline and protection at second base whereas expressing considerations about his power, noting that his velocity was beneath common, and that each his arm and vary “weren’t fairly as much as par at shortstop.” He spent most of his season at Pawtucket, hitting .305/.384/.426 with 5 homers, 48 walks, and 27 strikeouts; with Ramirez traded to the Marlins the earlier November, Pedroia primarily performed shortstop, as he did for his August 22 main league debut. Going through the Angels, he went 1-for-3 with a single off Joe Saunders. On September 9, he hit his first homer, off the Royals’ Luke Hudson. He scuffled throughout his call-up, batting simply .191/.258/.303 in 98 plate appearances whereas primarily taking part in second base.

Regardless of having retained his rookie eligibility, Pedroia was left off BA’s High 100 listing within the spring of 2007 and was dropped from fifth to seventh on their Crimson Sox staff listing, the place he drew comparisons to David Eckstein. Baseball Prospectus 2007 famous, “This PECOTA favourite tends to excite statheads greater than scouts. The previous cite his spectacular plate self-discipline and hole energy — a very good offensive package deal for a center infielder — whereas the latter warning towards his small dimension, unimpressive velocity, and lack of the arm power or vary to play shortstop.” With the departure of Mark Loretta, Pedroia received the second base job however began slowly, hitting simply .182/.308/.236 by the top of April and shedding time to Alex Cora. He turned issues round in early Could, ending at .317/.380/.442 (112 OPS+) with eight homers and three.9 WAR; he beat out former no. 1 prospect Delmon Younger for Rookie of the 12 months.

The 2007 Crimson Sox received 96 video games and the AL East, then bookended sweeps of the Angels and Rockies with a seven-game win over Cleveland within the ALCS. Pedroia didn’t do a lot within the Division Sequence, however he hit a mixed .319/.385/.532 within the ALCS and World Sequence. He went 3-for-5 in Sport 7 of the ALCS, with a seventh inning two-run homer and an eighth inning bases-loaded double, each off Rafael Betancourt, to place what had been a 3-2 sport out of attain. He hit a leadoff homer off Jeff Francis in his first World Sequence plate look, and went 3-for-5 with a two-run eighth inning double to interrupt open Sport 3 as effectively.

Pedroia was even higher in 2008. Making the most of Fenway Park, he led the AL with 54 doubles, 213 hits, and 118 runs scored whereas punching 17 homers and stealing 20 bases in 21 makes an attempt. He hit .326/.376/.493 (123 OPS+), ending second each in batting common and WAR (7.0), the latter behind solely Nick Markakis. He was voted to start out the All-Star Sport, and never solely received his first Gold Glove however took residence AL MVP honors, beating out the Twins’ Justin Morneau. The Crimson Sox received 95 video games and claimed the Wild Card. Pedroia went simply 1-for-17 as they beat the Angels within the Division Sequence, then went 9-for-26 with three homers in a seven-game loss to the Rays within the ALCS; he hit two solo homers off Scott Kazmir in a shedding trigger in Sport 2, and accounted for Boston’s solely run in Sport 7 with a leadoff homer off Matt Garza.

That winter, Pedroia signed a six-yer, $40.5 million extension with the Crimson Sox, one with escalators, incentives, and a membership possibility for 2015. Although he slipped to a .296/.371/.447 line (110 OPS+) with 15 homers in 2009, he made the All-Star staff once more and completed with 5.6 WAR on one other 95-win staff. This one was swept within the Division Sequence by the Angels; Pedroia went simply 2-for-12, however his two-run double off Kazmir (once more!) in Sport 3 helped the Crimson Sox construct a lead they ultimately frittered away.

Off the sphere, Pedroia handled household turmoil. Older brother Brett made headlines in 2009 when he was arrested on youngster molestation fees and convicted of 1 rely of oral copulation with a minor; he served eight months in jail. In the meantime, Man and Debbie’s tire retailer acquired threats as a result of Dustin made an offhand remark calling Woodland “a dump” in a Boston Journal profile.

Pedroia was off to a powerful begin in 2010 when he fouled a ball off his left foot on June 25, struggling a nondisplaced fracture of the medial navicular bone. Simply days later, he was noticed at Fenway Park, sporting a strolling boot whereas taking grounders on his knees. Through ESPN’s Joe McDonald:

“I failed miserably,” supervisor Terry Francona mentioned about with the ability to maintain Pedroia beneath management. “He’s a maniac. He is aware of he can’t put any weight on that foot and he is aware of he’s going to sluggish himself down if he does, so he’ll abide by the foundations, however he’ll bend them as a lot as he can.”

Anticipated to overlook six weeks, Pedroia was out nearer to eight, then performed simply two video games after returning earlier than realizing he was in an excessive amount of ache to proceed; the bone hadn’t healed. He underwent season-ending surgical procedure, with a screw inserted in his foot. He bounced again in 2011, setting profession highs with 159 video games performed, 21 homers, 26 steals, a 131 OPS+ (.307/.387/.474) and eight.0 WAR, the final of which was good for third within the league; teammate Jacoby Ellsbury and the Blue Jays’ José Bautista each completed with 8.3. Pedroia received his second Gold Glove, however the Crimson Sox collapsed in September, going 7-20 and lacking the playoffs, after which Francona was fired and Epstein resigned with a purpose to develop into the Cubs’ president of baseball operations.

With Bobby Valentine taking up as supervisor, the Crimson Sox bottomed out to 69 wins in 2012, with Pedroia’s 5.1 WAR representing one of many few vibrant spots. Whereas different teammates, together with David Ortiz, missed prolonged time with accidents, Pedroia performed by a torn adductor muscle in his proper thumb, however a second thumb damage, a hyperextension, despatched him to what was then the disabled listing in early July. He tore the UCL of his left thumb whereas diving into first base on Opening Day the following 12 months however performed by it for the whole season. In a career-high 160 video games, he hit .301/.372/.415 (115 OPS+) with 9 homers, 17 steals, and 6.1 WAR (sixth within the AL). Moreover, he made his fourth and closing All-Star staff, received his third Gold Glove, and reconfigured his current contract into an eight-year, $110 million extension for 2014–21; it was the biggest contract for a second baseman to that time, however was rapidly eclipsed by Robinson Canó’s free agent take care of the Mariners that winter.

Underneath new supervisor John Farrell, the Crimson Sox received the AL East with a 97-65 report in 2013. Pedroia hit simply .238/.286/.302 within the postseason, however had some large moments because the Crimson Sox beat the Rays, Tigers, and Cardinals to win one other championship. He drove in three runs towards the Rays’ David Worth in Sport 2 of the Division Sequence, a 7-4 win. In Sport 2 of the ALCS towards the Tigers, with the Crimson Sox trailing 5-0 within the sixth, he doubled in a run off Max Scherzer, then within the eighth hit a single off Al Alburquerque that arrange Ortiz’s game-tying grand slam; Boston received, 6-5. In Sport 6, with the Crimson Sox clinging to a 2-1 lead however the Tigers threatening with runners on the corners, he turned a pivotal double play, tagging out Victor Martinez en path to second and catching Prince Fielder in a rundown between third and residential.

Although Pedroia collected simply 5 hits and one stroll within the World Sequence towards the Cardinals, he scored 5 instances because of Ortiz’s unstoppable 11-for-16 efficiency. On November 13, as soon as the champagne had dried, Pedroia lastly underwent surgical procedure to restore his thumb ligament.

Because the Crimson Sox sank to final place in 2014 (71-91) and ’15 (78-84) beneath Farrell, Pedroia had a more durable time staying wholesome. He injured his left wrist within the 2014 residence opener, battled irritation all season, and slipped to a 99 OPS+ with seven homers earlier than being shut down in early September with a purpose to bear surgical procedure to launch a tendon in his left wrist and clear up scar tissue. Whereas he was out, rookie Mookie Betts — who had debuted on June 29 and got here up for good in late August — performed second base. In 2015, a recurrent proper hamstring pressure restricted Pedroia to 93 video games, although his 12 homers and .441 slugging proportion had been his greatest energy numbers in three years. His final full season, in 2016, was an impressive one. He hit .318/.376/.449 (117 OPS+) with 15 homers and 5.4 WAR in 154 video games whereas serving to the Sox win the AL East, although he went simply 2-for-12 as they had been swept by Cleveland within the Division Sequence. After the season, he underwent surgical procedure on his left knee, with a bit of meniscus eliminated and the arthritic joint surfaces smoothed.

His left knee issues had been hardly at an finish. On April 21, 2017, on an tried double play within the eighth inning of a sport towards the Orioles in Baltimore, Machado overslid the bag and spiked Pedroia’s left calf along with his proper foot. Machado tried to brace Pedroia’s tumble, however the second baseman was shaken up and left the sport. Farrell known as it “an especially late slide,” although Machado apologized to Pedroia, each on the sphere and over textual content.

Two days later, Crimson Sox pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez and Matt Barnes threw a number of brushback pitches at Machado, with the latter ejected (and subsequently suspended 4 video games) for throwing one behind the third baseman’s head. Pedroia initially missed simply three video games with the damage and was vocal in his unhappiness concerning his teammates’ clumsy try at payback. “It’s not me,” he yelled to Machado from the dugout after Barnes threw at his head, then mentioned afterwards, “I had nothing to do with that. That’s not the way you do this… I’m sorry to him and his staff. In case you’re going to guard guys, you do it straight away.”

As for the damage, Pedroia later mentioned he felt a pop, which medical doctors defined was cartilage ripping away. From The Athletic’s Chad Jennings in 2021:

“I bear in mind after I received the primary MRI after that play,” Pedroia mentioned. “A physician mentioned, ‘Hey man, you might smash not solely your profession however the remainder of your life with this damage. You tore all of the cartilage off in your medial compartment in your femur and your tibia. Your cleat simply received caught, and it’s a foul deal.’ And I mentioned, ‘Effectively, can I play?’ And he mentioned, ‘Yeah, you might attempt to.’”

Pedroia returned to the lineup and performed by appreciable ache till the top of July, although he did miss 9 video games in late Could and early June with a left wrist sprain. Irritation in his knee lastly despatched him to the DL in late July; he missed all however one sport of the staff’s subsequent 30, however returned and performed recurrently by September, with a day without work right here and there. He completed at .293/.369/.392 (101 OPS+) with 2.6 WAR in 105 video games.

In October, Pedroia underwent microfracture surgical procedure on his left tibia in addition to an experimental cartilage restoration process known as an osteochondral allograft switch, through which cartilage from a cadaver was grafted into the broken space. Teammate Steven Wright, a pitcher, was the one different participant who had undergone the surgical procedure, lower than six months prior. Anticipated to overlook the primary two months of the 2018 season, Pedroia tried to play in mid-Could, however after 5 rehab video games at Pawtucket and three with the Crimson Sox, additional irritation shut him down. In July, he underwent surgical procedure to take away scar tissue inside the left knee. On September 7, the staff introduced that he wouldn’t play once more that season, making Pedroia a bystander because the Crimson Sox ran to their fourth championship of this millennium.

In February 2019, the now-35-year-old Pedroia mentioned that if he knew what he was in for, he wouldn’t have undergone the cartilage process: “I don’t remorse doing it, however trying again and understanding what I do know now, I wouldn’t have achieved it.” He tried one other comeback. Following a three-game rehab stint, he made his season debut within the residence opener on April 9, going 1-for-4 with a single off the Blue Jays’ Ken Giles, then following with one other 1-for-4 effort with a single off Aaron Sanchez two days later. He performed simply 4 extra video games, nevertheless, leaving an April 17 sport towards the Yankees after two innings on account of discomfort within the left knee. He began and stopped a pair of rehab stints inside the subsequent few weeks, then on Could 27 introduced that he would take an indefinite break from rehabbing.

In August, Pedroia underwent a joint preservation process to strengthen bones and fill in hairline fractures beneath the cartilage, in addition to take away bone spurs and scar tissue. “It’s a day-to-day-life process; it’s not a going-back-to-playing-sports process,” defined Dr. Christopher Geary, an orthopedic surgeon. Pedroia felt effectively sufficient to aim one other comeback in 2020 however suffered “a major setback” in January, and spent the whole pandemic-shortened season on the injured listing. In December 2020, he underwent a partial knee alternative, and the next February, he introduced his retirement. Requested about his left knee damage, he refused accountable Machado, as a substitute providing one final dose of bravado: “That play may’ve occurred my rookie 12 months. While you play second base… like me, you grasp on till the final potential second to get the ball as a result of, you watched it: If there’s a slim probability at a double play, there’s one man on planet earth who may flip it. And also you’re speaking to him.”

…

As a result of he performed simply 361 video games after his age-30 season, Pedroia — like Wright, his Mets counterpart — completed with fewer video games performed (1,512) and plate appearances (6,777) than any post-1960 enlargement period place participant within the Corridor of Fame; he has 164 fewer video games and 102 fewer plate appearances than 2022 Golden Days Period Committee honoree Tony Oliva, the low man in each of these classes. He’s additionally shy of two,000 hits; his 1,805 are 28 greater than Wright however nonetheless fewer than Oliva (1,917) or this poll’s Chase Utley (1,885), the point of interest of my case for short-career, high-peak gamers.

Not like Wright, Oliva, or Utley, Pedroia received an MVP award (and a Rookie of the 12 months award as effectively), and in contrast to all of these gamers besides Utley, he received a World Sequence (two, counting his 2018 bystander function). Pedroia scores a 94 (shy of “a very good chance”) on the Invoice James Corridor of Fame Monitor, which dishes out credit score for issues which have tended to sway voters: seasons with eye-catching plateaus resembling 30 homers, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs, careers at .300 or higher, awards, league leads in key stats, and playoff appearances. That’s the identical rating as Utley, and 20 factors forward of Wright, however 20 behind Oliva, a three-time batting champion.

Even with about one full season misplaced to accidents throughout the 2008–16 span, Pedroia’s 46.7 WAR ranks seventh for that interval, behind Adrian Beltré (52.4), Miguel Cabrera (51.6), Canó (50.9), Evan Longoria (48.1), Joey Votto (48.0), and Mike Trout (47.7, regardless of not debuting till 2011) — excellent firm, however not all Corridor of Famers. Pedroia’s 51.9 profession WAR, 40.9 peak WAR, and 46.4 JAWS are all a bit higher than Wright’s numbers (49.1/39.5/44.3), and he’s twentieth in JAWS at second base — having been surpassed by Jose Altuve in 2025 — whereas Wright is twenty seventh at third base.

However so far as the second basemen on this poll go, Pedroia continues to be trying up at Utley (64.6/49.3/56.9 in a profession that was about 1,100 plate appearances longer). Amongst second basemen, Pedroia’s 40.9 peak rating ranks sixteenth, 3.2 factors beneath the usual — about half a win per 12 months — and beneath 12 of the 21 on the place. The 9 second basemen he’s forward of, together with Kent, had been all elected through the Veterans or Period Committees; he has the next JAWS than eight of them. He doesn’t outdo any of the BBWAA honorees in that class, nevertheless.

Two summers in the past whereas checking in on the progress that present gamers are making in the direction of Cooperstown, I did some quantity crunching and located that of the eligible gamers reaching 40.0 WAR throughout their greatest seven seasons — hunting down these lively, not but eligible, or not eligible in any respect (Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, each of whom have since been reinstated however haven’t but come up for election), and adjusting downward to 32.0 WAR for catchers, whose values are constrained by limitations of taking part in time — roughly three-quarters are enshrined, together with these within the Lessons of 2024 (Beltré, Joe Mauer, and Todd Helton) and ’25 (Ichiro Suzuki):

Once I ran this desk final 12 months, Pedroia was nonetheless counted among the many ineligible second baseman, as a result of he had not but accomplished the election cycle. Now he’s bumped the proportion down a bit, however that’s not the purpose; it’s that this roughly confirms he was on a Corridor of Fame path.

After Wright eked out 6.2% in his 2024 debut to retain eligibility, I anticipated Pedroia would fare equally, however in truth he practically doubled that, receiving 11.9% whereas Wright solely superior to eight.1%. I think that within the eyes of at the least some voters, Pedroia’s MVP and championship rings assist differentiate between the 2. Pedroia could have additionally benefited barely from a coattail impact in relation to Utley, who gained 11 proportion factors in his second 12 months on the poll (from 28.8% to 39.8%). Primarily based on information in Ryan Thibodaux’s Poll Tracker, of the 38 revealed ballots that added Utley after not together with him in 2024, eight (21.1%) additionally included Pedroia.

Whereas the previous three election cycles noticed the BBWAA elect two candidates who debuted on the poll with decrease shares than Pedroia (Scott Rolen at 10.2% and Billy Wagner and 10.5%), with Andruw Jones (7.3%) near becoming a member of them, I’m not but satisfied that Pedroia, whose conventional and superior stats aren’t as sturdy, can replicate that climb. Place gamers with excessive, Corridor-caliber peaks however overly quick careers don’t are likely to get rewarded with election, as Nomar Garciaparra (44.3/43.1/43.7) will remind you. Pedroia’s peak is far larger than these of bygone MVP winners resembling Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, who don’t measure up as effectively in JAWS both. After falling quick on one more Period Committee poll — their fourth apiece — these M&M boys are collectively 0-for-38 between the committees and the writers.

Although I’ve mulled the opportunity of together with Pedroia on my poll on condition that it’s a relatively skinny one, I’m much less inclined to examine the field for a place participant with a excessive peak and an excessively quick profession than for a pitcher with an analogous profession form, notably as a result of I believe numerous traits inside the sport have made it a lot more durable for the latter (therefore my assist, delicate although it might be, for Félix Hernández). Given the chance that Pedroia’s candidacy survives, it seems to be as if I’ll get an opportunity to evaluation that call. It seems we’ll be speaking about his candidacy for awhile.