OAKLAND — The whispers were getting louder. The chorus getting stronger.

Dustin Pedroia isn’t ready. He’s too small for the big leagues. He’ll never hit if he insists on pulling off the ball and swinging with every ounce of strength he can muster from his 5-foot-9, 180-pound frame, which are generous media-guide estimates.

After 21 games, Pedroia, a second-round draft pick in 2004 who was handed the starting second baseman’s job before he even got to spring training, was batting a paltry .180.

It was only 61 at-bats, but as the 0-fers began to pile up, manager Terry Francona tried to ease Pedroia into his first full season by playing veteran utlityman Alex Cora more, a plan made easier because Cora began the season red-hot.

Somehow, that seems like a long time ago.

Pedroia, a confident and highly competitive individual, has been on quite a tear since ending that May 3 game batting .180.

Pedroia has been going through such a torrid streak at the plate that yesterday he picked up two major awards, being named the American League’s Player of the Week for May 28-June 3 and also being selected as the league’s rookie of the month.

Over the last week Pedroia has been rifling base hits all over the ballpark. He batted .609 (14 for 23) with six doubles and six RBI in six games.

That impressive week was merely a continuation of what he has been doing. For May, Pedroia batted .415 (27-for-65) with six doubles, two homers and nine RBI in 21 games. He led all rookies in batting average, doubles and on-base percentage.

Pedroia hasn’t stopped hitting just because the calendar has clicked over to another month, either. He was 8-for-14 (.571) with five RBI in the first three games of this month, against the New York Yankees.

Cora, not surprisingly, has found it more difficult to get playing time in place of Pedroia, who also has been playing very steady defense.

“People ask me if I feel like saying, ‘I told you so,’ but I don’t,” said Francona. “I’m happy for him. That (winning the awards) is great. He’s swinging the bat well. That’s great. But he really plays the game to win. He’s a really good player. That’s what we’re seeing.”

Pedroia, meanwhile, was thrilled to have been recognized by the league for the two awards.

“I mean, this is awesome,” said Pedroia. “A lot of hard work put in, you get on a little roll and that’s pretty much it. I’ve definitely come a long way from the beginning of the year to now. I love it. It’s great.”

Things weren’t so great early on, but then, that’s nothing new for Pedroia.

He admittedly struggled at his various stops in the minor leagues before adjusting well enough to earn a bump up to the next level. And he struggled terribly last year when promoted to Boston, batting just .191 in his first 89 big-league at-bats.

It took him a while to get going this season.

“It was hard on me,” said Pedroia. “I’m not going to say I was happy. I’d go home and wasn’t being myself. Obviously I got down. You get upset when you get home. I’m not going to lie to you. My wife could see it. She saw I was upset. I kept telling her it would turn around. I kept telling myself that. You have to believe in yourself, that it will turn around. You just have to weather the storm.”

He wasn’t all talk, though. There were countless hours working with hitting coach Dave Magadan to refine his approach at the plate. And while there will be slumps in his future, as there are for any major-leaguer, Pedroia at least has proven to himself and the fans that he can create a track record for success.

“I always felt I was going to come around. I was seeing pitches, hitting the ball, not striking out,” said Pedroia, who had whiffed only nine times in 152 plate appearances heading into last night’s game.

“When things are going bad, you can go one of two ways — get worse or get better,” said Pedroia. “I kept working hard, kept my mouth shut and kept on playing.”

And now he has to make some room on his trophy shelf.

skrasner@projo.com