Pedroia was quoted a couple of weeks ago as saying: “Guys are going to have to step up. I’m going to have to step up, everyone is (going to have to step up). That’s how it goes during the season. Everyone’s going to have to have good at-bats, and put them together in a row, to score a lot of runs. We’ll do that.” Then he added: “I’ll hit more home runs…”

And that could prove to be a problem: by trying to step up will players actually take a step back?