Pedroia confident of quick return, but he's out of WBC

Dustin Pedroia will return to the Boston Red Sox when he's good and ready.

And that could be much more quickly than first thought.

After what was initially feared to be a strained oblique, doctors determined Pedroia is suffering from a strained left abdominal muscle, a significantly less serious injury.

The 2008 AL MVP felt pain in his hip while practising for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in Miami on Saturday. Taking soft tosses hours before the matchup with Puerto Rico, Pedroia suddenly experience a sharp pain in his left hip.

Doctors recommended the second baseman simply get treatment and rest.

"[There's] nothing to be worried about," Pedroia said. "I'll just take a couple days and try to get it calmed down, and then move on from there. I'm not worried about it."

The 2009 season opens in three weeks, more than enough time for the all-star to return to the lineup, doctors believe. A diagnosis of a strained oblique, however, would have yielded a much longer recovery period, possibly extending through the season opener.

"I'll get treatment probably 100 times today to try to get back a little faster," Pedroia said.  "I'll take care of this and get ready for the season."

The development on Saturday was powerful fodder for the most vehement critics of the WBC, who say the event is potentially dangerous for players and clubs starting the MLB season.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was quick to absolve the WBC of any blame.

Assured injury is minor

"I don't know if it's fair to put all of that on the WBC," Francona said on Sunday. "Could he do that in the cage here, too?"

Despite assurances the injury is minor and the WBC is not at fault, and Pedroia's optimism at playing again for Team USA, he will not return to the world tournament.

"While he will be held out from activity for a couple of days, it is not expected that he will miss significant time," the team said in a statement. "Pedroia will rejoin Red Sox spring training camp on Sunday and is no longer participating in the World Baseball Classic."

Saying the WBC is not directly the cause of the injury, Pedroia acknowledges the differences between the tournament and spring training.

"I've never had anything like this," he said. "Maybe I pushed it a little bit too hard, too fast to get this going."

Pedroia is not the only key Red Sox player to be felled by injury. Julio Lugo, his middle infield partner, has a torn meniscus in his right knee and will have arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday.

With Mark DeRosa starting at second base, Team USA lost 11-1 to Puerto Rico on Saturday night. The WBC mercy-rule ended the game in the seventh inning.