Did Off-Field Issues Slow Pedroia?

[Imperial59]

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- His older brother went to prison for a sex crime, and almost without fail, the papers identified the perpetrator as "Dustin Pedroia's brother."

His father, Guy, received death threats at the family's tire store after an interview his son gave in which he was quoted as saying his hometown was "a dump."

His wife, Kelli, was in and out of the hospital because of complications with her first pregnancy, relief not coming to the anxious couple until their son, Dylan, was born healthy in August.

"It was tough," Dustin Pedroia said in an all-but-empty Sox clubhouse late last week after he and Adrian Beltre had each taken 100 or so swings in extra batting practice.

"I dealt with a lot of [stuff] last year. My biggest thing was, you just got to find a way to get through it. When I got to the yard, I tried to concentrate on baseball. When I got home, I had to do all I could to keep everything under control, or at least make it seem like it was under control."

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb...don&id=4976286

This may explain why Pedroia saw a drops in his offensive production last year, and produced below his career averages at age 25. It will be interesting to see if he bounces back like Drew did in 2008 after dealing with family issues.

[Dojji]

bounces back in what sense? Pedroia may have been "below his career averages" -- by about .007 OPS -- but he was definitely still way above the league average for a 2B. He doesn't get a bounceback, he just gets to improve on another solid year.

[Imperial59]

bounces back in what sense? Pedroia may have been "below his career averages" -- by about .007 OPS -- but he was definitely still way above the league average for a 2B. He doesn't get a bounceback, he just gets to improve on another solid year.

Actually, Pedroia fell by .050 points of OPS at an age when most players are improving.

[a700hitter]

The story about his brother hit the newswires either at the beginning of the 2009 season or right before it started. I thought something like that had the potential for causing problems for him, and then his wife had the troublesome pregnancy. It could have had a negative impact on his performance. He did not have one of those hot streaks last season that he had in the prior two seasons. When he gets hot like that, he is impossible to get out.

[Keeper]

Pedroia had a good season, but he is definitely capable of more. However, I do think that what he did in 2008 is his ceiling.

Still, it's important to remember that distractions off the field can severely impact your peformance. Baseball players are human, too.