Dustin Pedroia of Boston Red Sox Avoids Surgery, for Now

Sean McAdam of Comcast Sports is reporting via his twitter that Dustin Pedroia will avoid knee surgery and could even return to the lineup tomorrow.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman had his knee examined by Dr. Tom Gill today at 4:30 in Boston and the injury was reportedly determined to be only a bruised knee cap.

The tremendous news comes on the heels of Marco Scutaro's activation off the disabled list. Jed Lowrie is also back in the lineup after missing two days with shoulder pain.

An MRI revealed only inflammation in the shoulder, so Lowrie should be good to go.

Manager Terry Francona commented on Pedroia's examination to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, saying he fully expected the Laser Show to be back in Friday's lineup.

"I fully expect he'll be hitting second tomorrow," said Francona. "But I think we needed to do it. He didn't even want to go back and do this. We kind of made him. Because of the way he plays and everything and he keeps landing on that thing. We just want to make sure it's OK."

Francona also made an interesting comment regarding another possible issue Pedroia could be dealing with.

"He's got a little bit of a cartilage issue in there. We've known that for a long time. I think everybody on our team does, including myself. That's the way it is. If that gets in the way, then you need to...we just want to look at it and make sure."

Abraham also passed along speculation from ESPN that Pedroia may be dealing with a torn meniscus in the knee.

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A doctor interviewed by ESPN speculated that Pedroia has a torn meniscus, a c-shaped piece of cartilage. In speaking to two other sports medicine professionals today, they also believe that is the likely injury. In some cases, rest can cure that. In others, minor surgery is needed.

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It appears the coast is clear for now, but there may be further issues down the line for Pedroia and his knee.