Josh Beckett

I'd say 11-12 with a 4.40 ERA. Not great, but not terrible for a No. 4. 

2-Boston Red Sox: Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, and Brad Penny. Wild cards: John Smoltz, Clay Buccholz, and Justin Masterson. 

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Starting Rotations"

ction before his departure.  If the Rays falter and Boston's rotation regains consistency once Josh Beckett returns, the Red Sox may have a shot at winning the division, but either way they should be in a dog fight for the Wild Card down the stretch.

Continue reading "Seven Runs: Too Little, Too Early"

opener between the Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway Park.  This duel between Joba Chamberlain and Josh Beckett was one of the best pitched games of the season.  It was a statement game for Chamberlain, who scattered three hits and struck out nine over seven shutout innings.  The only run of the game was scored in the third inning, when Jason Giambi grounded an infield single to the left side of second base, scoring Bobby Abreu from third.  The only reason shortstop Jed Lowrie couldn't come up with the easy grounder was that the Red Sox infield was playing the overexaggerated shift on the pull-happy Giambi.  Beckett pitched an excellent game of his own, allowing just the one run over seven innings.  The Red Sox mounted a rally off Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, but Joe Girardi brought Mariano Rivera in with one out to record a five-out save.  He struck out Jacoby Elsbury and got Dustin Pedroia on a come-backer to hold the 1-0 lead.  Mo was at his best in the ninth, striking out Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew to close out the game.

Continue reading "Santana Goes the Distance, Mets Stay Hot"

ndy Johnson ($15.1M)Mike Hampton ($15.975M, courtesy of his monster Rockies deal) John Smoltz ($14M)Josh Beckett ($10.1M)Carlos Zambrano ($16M)Mark Buehrle ($14M)Javier Vazquez ($11.5M)Jose Contreras ($10M)CC Sabathia ($11M)Jake Westbrook ($10M)Roy Oswalt ($13M Gil Meche ($11.4M) Jon Garland ($12M)Jason Schmidt ($15.2M) Derek Lowe ($10M)Ben Sheets ($10.1M)Johan Santana ($16.9M)Pedro Martinez ($11.8M)Andy Pettitte ($16M)Mike Mussina ($11M)Carl Pavano ($11M)Matt Morris ($10M)Greg Maddux ($10M) Barry Zito ($14.5M)Chris Carpenter ($10.5M)Vincente Padilla ($11M)Kevin Millwood ($10.3M) AJ Burnett ($13.2M)Roy Halladay ($10M)

Continue reading "Washburn's Farewell"

And things started well today, as he hit a leadoff double off Boston’s ace Josh Beckett, later scoring on A-Rod’s two-run double. Giambi knocked in A-Rod with a sac fly, and now it was the Red Sox looking at an early deficit.

Continue reading "More Bad Yankee Luck"

and capped off the second series of the season by committing four errors during a game in which ace Josh Beckett looked very ordinary in his return to the mound. Since getting swept, however, Boston has won 5 of the next 7 against such projected American League powerhouses as the Yankees, Tigers and Indians. Little by little, the Red Sox that we saw win the World Series last season are coming back.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

air can only be seen as trying to injure another player.

Red Sox fans shouldn’t panic over Josh Beckett’s recent back problems. Reports seem to indicate that the problem is entirely muscular in nature and something that should resolve itself with rest and treatment, as opposed to a disc problem which could potentially require surgery. While this will set the ace righthander back in terms of preparing for the season and may even cause him to miss the first couple of weeks, there is no reason whatsoever to rush him back. The season is a marathon and Boston will need Beckett to be strong the whole way. Pushing him to be back by an arbitrary date such as Opening Day would be foolish and probably result in a recurring problem throughout the course of the season.

Continue reading "Yankees Playing Dirty . . . And Other ..."

beraSS Carlos GuillenC Joe MauerOF Tori HunterOF Grady SizemoreOF Magglio OrdonezUTIL David OrtizSP Josh BeckettSP John LackeySP Justin VerlanderCLOSER Jonathon Papelbon

AL BATTING CHAMP

Ichiro Suzuki

Continue reading "2008 Major League Baseball Preview: ..."

of adjustments for Dice-K especially adapting to a new culture as well as American League hitters. Josh Beckett also struggled his first year in the American League but he made adjustments the second time around and was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game last season. If Dice-K can similarly adjust and cut down on the walks, Boston will have an absolutely lethal 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation.

Continue reading "Boston Red Sox Spring Training Stories To Follow"

core of any team looking to compete effectively in the major leagues is the pitching staff and with Josh Beckett and Dice-K as the Sox' 1-2 punch in the rotation, things are already looking good. Beckett ended up second in last year's Cy Young voting and, of course, went 4-0 in the post-season with a 1.20 ERA. Dice-K (Daisuke Matsuzaka) didn't have the 'super season' that management expected when they paid all those millions; first, just for the right to talk to him and then, with his contract, but he did end up winning 15 games and getting those 201 strikeouts. Expect him to have gotten over his 'cultural' adjustments and improve on that record. Then there's Schilling, who's heading into the proverbial twilight of his career (he's said that he'll retire after this season, but can you say 'Clemens'?). He seems to have figured out how to make adjustments that continue to make him a threat to opposing batters. And knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who won two more games than Dice-K last year, will be back. Rumors are that he'll play until he's about 65. There'll be a struggle for the fifth position in the rotation with lefty Jon Lester and right-hander Clay Buchholz leading the pack.

Continue reading "Getting closer"