It seemed Beckett was getting better. He threw a side session Tuesday and said the next day things had improved. Though he said he was "still day to day," it appeared he might pitch tonight.
Not anymore.
"We don't want to put any pitcher in a position where he has to take the mound at anything less than 100 percent," Epstein said. "So we think this is the right move. We had him penciled in. I think you could tell from our answers to you guys the last couple of days we thought this might be a possibility. It's the right thing to do."
All along, Beckett had seemed more concerned about the injury than anyone else. While manager Terry Francona initially attributed the numbness and tingling to Beckett sleeping on his right arm awkwardly before his last start, Beckett said Wednesday, "I think scary is probably a good word for it. I've had some sleepless nights thinking about all kinds of stuff. You generally think the worst."
After Beckett gave up eight runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings Aug. 17 against the Blue Jays, Francona was asked whether his starter was healthy. Francona said he was. He said it again the next day in Baltimore, before finally acknowledging Aug. 19 that Beckett had felt the tingling and numbness. That was when Beckett was pushed back for the first time. Over the weekend in Toronto, Francona said the issue was inflammation in Beckett's right elbow.
Epstein said his understanding was that the tingling and numbness were no longer present. Beckett left without commenting after yesterday's game. Epstein declined to discuss the treatment or details of what the diagnosis could be. He also did not offer a reason to scratch Beckett, other than "the elbow itself doesn't feel 100 percent."
