The Boston Red Sox avoided a huge scare on Wednesday when they announced that All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s x-rays revealed no long term damage and he will be fine. Pedroia sprained his left wrist on Tuesday in a game against the Twins when he dove for a ground ball off the bat of Denard Span. Pedroia had x-rays on Wednesday morning and is already asking coach Terry Francona to get him back in the lineup for Thursday’s game against Florida.

Pedroia’s four-year major league career has been spent entirely with the Red Sox. He was drafted by Boston in the 2004 draft and made his debut in 2006. He made the team in 2007 and has been a mainstay since; winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 2007, then shattering everyone’s expectations by winning the AL MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in 2008. Pedroia has been invited to the All-Star Games for the past two seasons as well.

There’s nothing scarier for a team and a fan base than to hear that a marquee player has gone down with an injury. The Twins suffered this fate earlier this week when Joe Nathan was announced as needing Tommy John Surgery and will be gone for the season. A sprained wrist wouldn’t land Pedroia on the DL for an extended amount of time, but a wrist injury can be very unpredictable. Anything from defensive prowess to offensive power can be lost with sprains.

But the news is good for Boston. Pedroia is healthy and ready to go, and so are the rest of the Red Sox. The Sox are reeling from a step back in 2009 when the rival Yankees paid their way to the playoffs and made quick work of all comers. The slate is clean and Boston and New York are ready to renew the tensions. Pedroia’s health gives an edge back to Boston and come the regular season, he and the Sox will be ready to take back the World Series banner.