Following two days of positive results in his rehab, Dustin Pedroia is hoping to make his return to the Red Sox' lineup when the team returns to Fenway for their next homestand on Aug. 17.
"We went out there [Sunday] for early work and he ran the bases a couple of times and he actually had a really good day," said Terry Francona. "He felt pretty good about it. [Trainer] Mikey [Reinold] felt pretty good about it.
"[Skipping rehab games] is a possibility. There's a lot of different ways that he can help us win. I think that's going to have to be conversations with [general manager] Theo [Espstein], conversations with [Pedroia] and with me about what's in his best interests. I'm not even sure we know what that is just yet. We'll see."
After taking Monday off, Pedroia will resume training with increased intensity and speed when Boston travels to Toronto for a three-game series (Tues.-Thurs.).
For the Red Sox, his return cannot come soon enough: Boston is just 19-18 without the 2008 AL MVP, and over the past week, is batting only .213 while averaging 3.3 runs per game (well below their season average of 5.1 runs).