Red Sox Journal: Beckett of old could be just the right medicine
By BRIAN MacPHERSON | | Journal Sports Writer
Apr 3, 2011 at 7:45 PM
ARLINGTON, Texas � Four years ago, with the Red Sox having lost three straight and facing imminent disaster, Josh Beckett took the mound in Cleveland and pitched one of the best games of his life. His 11-strikeout masterpiece turned the tide of the A
ARLINGTON, Texas - Four years ago, with the Red Sox having lost
three straight and facing imminent disaster, Josh Beckett took the
mound in Cleveland and pitched one of the best games of his life.
His 11-strikeout masterpiece turned the tide of the American League
Championship Series in 2007 and propelled the Red Sox to a World
Series title.
Objectively speaking, Tuesday's start in Cleveland holds none of
the same ramifications. But the three-game sweep the Red Sox
endured in Texas might make it feel like it does.
And even though Beckett will start the season as the No. 4
starter in the Red Sox rotation, he still brings a stopper's
mentality with him to the mound.
"Wherever he's coming out of the gate, whether it's (No.) 4 or
whenever, he's still a big leader on our staff," Red Sox manager
Terry Francona said.
Beckett pitched through an up-and-down spring training,
finishing with a 5.33 ERA in 25 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out
19 and walked just four. In his final exhibition start, he
surrendered just one hit and struck out three in five innings
pitched against the Texas Rangers.
Even in some of the starts late in the spring when his final
numbers didn't look good, he tended to look good for four or five
innings and give up runs in the fifth, sixth or seven.
"When he started to tire a little bit, he got the ball up and
paid for it," Francona said. "You want guys to get out to that
point. It doesn't cost you a win. But I thought in Houston he was
real crisp."
But no spring-training start, no matter how good or how bad, was
going to erase the bad taste of last season.
Beckett endured the worst season of his career in 2010. A
mid-May back injury didn't help matters, but he still has made it
clear repeatedly that he expected better out of himself than a 5.78
When Beckett met with team management at the start of spring
training, his determination raised even the eyebrows of those that
knew him.
"It got all our attention," Francona said. "Even when guys
struggle, when you know them and know you can rely on them, we knew
what he was going to do this winter. We knew he'd come back
ready."
Beckett made a couple of adjustments to his mechanics during
spring training. As is the case with most adjustments, they took
some time to settle.
"It probably took me about two or three starts," he said. "It
got more and more comfortable. It's not just the start. It's hard
to make adjustments and not just revert back to something else
during the game. That's when you know they're starting to feel
comfortable - when they're the most natural thing that you go
If he can pitch on Tuesday in Cleveland even close to the way he
pitched down the stretch in spring training, the memory of last
season will start to fade - as will the memory of a disastrous
weekend in Texas.
The pressure is off
It didn't take decades of baseball experience to see that Carl
Crawford looked anxious at the plate in his first two games in a
Red Sox uniform. It didn't take a doctorate in psychology to
understand he was putting too much pressure on himself.
All Crawford needed to do was to relax and to have something go
his way.
To help his left fielder relax, Francona dropped him down to the
No. 7 spot in the batting order behind David Ortiz and Jed Lowrie.
But it still wasn't until Crawford singled on an excuse-me line
drive to left field that he really started to relax.
"I didn't know for sure if it was going to be fair or foul," he
said. "Luckily enough, it stayed fair. Those are the kind of little
things that kind of get you going sometimes, so hopefully that's
the start of something."
Said Francona: "He didn't hit it good, but you could tell he
felt better about himself."
Crawford drove home his first Red Sox run in the seventh inning,
his second hit of the game, lifting a single to center field with
runners on first and third. After going hitless in his first seven
at-bats, Crawford came away from his first three-game series with a
little bit of confidence.
"Probably pressing a little bit, wanting to do well so bad, you
forget to just relax and play ball," he said. "I probably had a
little case of that. Hopefully I can relax from here on out."
Too early to call
In a backward, twisted way, all the home runs Jon Lester, John
Lackey and Clay Buchholz allowed at Texas reflects the confidence
Jarrod Saltalamacchia has in his starting pitchers - and the
confidence they have in themselves.
Rather than trying to pick through or pitch around a loaded
lineup - the Texas Rangers last winter added Adrian Beltre to a
group that already included Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton and Ian
Kinsler - Red Sox pitchers decided to challenge the Rangers
hitters.
"We went after them with our strengths," Saltalamacchia said. "I
don't think anyone regrets any pitch they threw, and I don't regret
calling any pitch. We went after them. They're a good-hitting team,
but we went after everybody. We're going to pitch to our strengths.
We're not going to change anything just because we've given up a
few hits."
The result was disastrous. Cruz and Kinsler each hit three home
runs in three games, and former Red Sox farmhand David Murphy hit
two.
"I don't think these guys mis-hit one all series," said
Buchholz, who gave up four solo home runs in 6 1/3 innings pitched
on Sunday. "You've got to tip your cap sometimes."
Much was made of the decision by the Red Sox to stick with the
unproven Saltalamacchia rather than pursue a veteran catcher. By
all accounts, their decision to do so had more to do with his
ability to handle a pitching staff than anything he was going to
bring to the table at the plate.
And in the same way that Jason Varitek was praised or blamed for
the way Red Sox pitchers performed when he was behind the plate, so
too will Saltalamacchia be evaluated - for better or for worse.
Three games into the season, at least, the bad has far
outweighed the good. Both Saltalamacchia and Daniel Bard conceded
that a 3-2 slider on which Bard walked Mike Napoli on Friday was
the wrong pitch, and Lackey insinuated that there might have been a
better option than throwing a middle-in fastball to Beltre on
But had Bard thrown his slider for a strike or had Lackey thrown
the fastball more middle-in than middle-middle, the results might
have been far different. The walk to Napoli opened the floodgates
for a four-run rally on Friday, and the fastball Lackey threw to
Beltre wound up in the left-field seats. Saltalamacchia couldn't do
anything about the way his pitchers executed their pitches.
Fingers will point, particularly with the team waiting through
an off-day on Monday. But the Red Sox aren't anywhere close to
pulling the plug on Saltalamacchia.
They have far too much invested in him - and far too much
confidence in him - to react to three lousy games.
"Results aside, I think Salty does a very good job with the
pitchers," Francona said. "If a ball goes over the middle, that's
the way the game is. These guys are good enough where if you make a
mistake, they'll hit it a long way.
"A tough three-game series isn't going to change our view on
Salty."
bmacpherson@projo.com