Beckett takes great pains to say he's OK

October 13, 2008|Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff

For Josh Beckett, there was little left to say yesterday afternoon. He had been asked, over and over, if his health is an issue. Given that he has allowed 12 earned runs on 18 hits over his 9 1/3 innings in two postseason games, and had missed time recently because of an elbow problem and an oblique strain, the questions seemed justified. Beckett did, after all, get an injection of a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory the last weekend of the regular season.

"I can understand it," Beckett said about the queries from the media. "But if I tell you I'm fine, that's what you've got to go on. Unless you guys are getting information somewhere else, I don't know what to tell you guys. You guys keep asking me the same question about my health. I tell you I'm fine. Just go on that. Write that. I'm fine."

Except he's not fine. Whether that's because of injury or ineffectiveness, the Red Sox now have lost both of Beckett's starts in this postseason, the only two losses they have. It's quite a reversal from the 2007 postseason when Beckett got the win in each of his four starts, allowing just four runs in 30 innings, as the Sox won the World Series.

Despite the avowals of the Red Sox that Beckett is fine, it seems difficult to understand where the ineffectiveness is coming from. Pitchers don't just lose multiple miles per hour off their fastballs, as Beckett has, without something being wrong. Could it be the elbow he dealt with in August? Perhaps, though it's hard to believe the Sox would put their ace in jeopardy. Could it be the oblique? Sure, even as Beckett and others say that hasn't been a problem. Could it be the rust of having pitched little in the final months of the season (34 1/3 innings since Aug. 17)? Possibly.

Instead, command and consistency have taken the blame, justified or not.

"He feels pretty good physically," manager Terry Francona said. "We spent a few minutes with him a little bit ago just trying to go through what his day will be like today, because today is a big work day. And again, just to double-check and make sure he's OK, because as we all know, when guys are competing, guys will fib or try to get through it.

"No, he's fine. He's certainly battling some consistency issues, and I think some of that is having some of your starts interrupted and then having the oblique a couple weeks ago. You know, it's been a battle for him."

With that diminished fastball - and diminished results - the focus now turns to a possible Game 6, the next scheduled start for Beckett. When asked if he would be making that start, Beckett said, "Yeah. Did you guys hear something?"

He followed that with a somewhat profane assessment of his last outing: "I pitched like [expletive]. I gave up eight [expletive] runs."