Beckett struggling

[jacksonianmarch]

Frustrating times in RSN these days when you consider the signature offseason move is blowing up in the sox faces. Not only are Anibal Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez playing well on a regular basis in FLA, but Beckett has just been plain horrible. It has even been more apparent since the AS break. Just some stats for thought here.

 

Beckett pre-AS 11-4 4.75

Beckett post-AS 2-3 5.74ERA

 

2005 Clement pre-AS- 10-2 3.85ERA

2005 Clement post-AS- 3-4 5.72ERA

 

eerily familiar here. Beckett is wilting when the sox need him the most.

 

edit: reactionary title, didn't mean it.

[SCM33]

Come on....

 

 

HAHA...just noticed you changed the thread title.....yeah, he is struggling...........but he is in no way comparable to Clement.

[TheKilo]

At least Clement was consistently good for a half season.

 

 

I think Beckett is better than this, he is still very young and raw in the talent department.

 

However, my patience is thinning. He needs to get his head straightened out and fast. the Sox can't afford to lose his starts from here on out.

[jacksonianmarch]

Come on....

 

sorry, just was reactionary. He is really struggling and he is absolutely necessary to this team winning.

[jsinger121]

More talent than Clement and alot younger. After the struggles he has had this year I bet he will work alot harder this offseason to change that.

[SCM33]

sorry, just was reactionary. He is really struggling and he is absolutely necessary to this team winning.

 

 

Yeah.....now its at least something Id be willing to talk about....thanks for changing it.

[yeszir]

DUH, he was on this week's ESPN the magazine cover. THAT'S why he sucked today.

[jacksonianmarch]

DUH, he was on this week's ESPN the magazine cover. THAT'S why he sucked today.

 

was he hitting pretty? http://i.cnn.net/si/si_online/covers/images/2004/0705_large.jpg

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Josh Beckett has no excuses.

 

On a great defensive team that scores plenty of runs. He has a 97 mph fastball with a tight curve and decent change (the changeup could be better). The Red Sox just signed him to a decent contract so he has security. There are no apparent injuries.

 

.....just pitch better

[jsinger121]

Josh Beckett has no excuses.

 

On a great defensive team that scores plenty of runs. He has a 97 mph fastball with a tight curve and decent change (the changeup could be better). The Red Sox just signed him to a decent contract so he has security. There are no apparent injuries.

 

.....just pitch better

 

His changeup is not very good. It does not have anywhere near the separation from the fastball as it needs to be. He is essentially a 2 pitch pitcher that has to pitch against good lineups. You need more than 2 pitches to beat AL lineups. He has his work cut out for him this offseason to develop the changeup alot more and to maybe get a splitter which he likely needs.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

His changeup is not very good. It does not have anywhere near the separation from the fastball as it needs to be. He is essentially a 2 pitch pitcher that has to pitch against good lineups. You need more than 2 pitches to beat AL lineups. He has his work cut out for him this offseason to develop the changeup alot more and to maybe get a splitter which he likely needs.

 

I would love to see him develop a 90 mph splitter. It would be perfect to sit between his curve and fastball.

[Beckett95]

He needs to work with Curt on developing another good pitcher. If he could gain a good changeup or splitter to go along with his nasty curve and 95 mph fastball, he'd be dominant. His control also at times can be all over the place. He has a tendency to miss his spots where the catcher lined up.

[SCM33]

I agree with SCHILLINGISNAT. It can be very frustrating watching a guy who clearly possesses immense talent which has not been harnessed.

[Matt]

Beckett is too predictable, that's his main problem. During games, when he throws a bad curveball, he'll decide to dump the pitch all together and stick with fastball, after fastball, after fastball. Not to mention, everything seems to be over the plate. He could get away with that stuff in the NL, but not in the AL.

 

Like jsinger brought up above, Beckett needs to develop another pitch, and a splitter would be a perfect compliment to his fastball. But along with developing another pitch and improving his changeup, Beckett needs to learn how to locate and how to take something off of his pitches. Everything he throws, including his curveball, is hard.

 

The Red Sox also need to pick up another pitcher this off-season, possibly in a trade (Oswalt?). Beckett isn't ready to be a top-2 pitcher in the Red Sox rotation right now, so maybe by the time Schilling retires after next season, he, along with a newly acquired frontline guy, can anchor the Red Sox pitching staff for the future.

[ksushi]

Beckett needs to play with his fastball more. He has that running fastball that he doesnt use enough that can be very nice to lefties. He needs to cut his fastball a little bit to righties. I think he does need one more pitch though, I dont know what a splitter would do for his blisters. Maybe a slider who knows. Beckett has a ton of upside. I'm not eager to dump him just yet. I think by the end of his contract, he'll have lived up to his expectations.

[ORS]

Million dollar arm, ten cent head. Hopefully the pasting he has taken this year is a wake up call, and he realizes that good stuff doesn't mean s*** if you can't pitch with it.

[Dana Kiecker]

Its a mystery.. I hope hes taking care of himself off the field.

 

That contract extension in June was a bit odd also.. he negotiated it himself.

 

Somethings goin on here..

[jacksonianmarch]

Beckett needs to play with his fastball more. He has that running fastball that he doesnt use enough that can be very nice to lefties. He needs to cut his fastball a little bit to righties. I think he does need one more pitch though, I dont know what a splitter would do for his blisters. Maybe a slider who knows. Beckett has a ton of upside. I'm not eager to dump him just yet. I think by the end of his contract, he'll have lived up to his expectations.

 

See, I disagree. If he put some cut on the ball, it would make his effectiveness vs lefties better and if he tailed a 2 seamer in on righties, he would likewise be more effective. You want to have the slow stuff curve away and the hard stuff jam in to be most effective.

[ksushi]

I've only seen him use his tailing fastball to righties. He gets them to look at it because they give up on it. Its a nice pitch.

[He Hate Me]

i havent thrown a decent splitter in my lifetime, but I was under the impression that throwing a splitter is even more stress on your fingers than a curveball, and wouldn't Beckett's blister problems be an issue?

[ksushi]

Well, I threw a splitter when I pitched, and it didn't ever seem like a big deal to me. Then again, Josh Beckett has my grandmothers hands so it might be an issue.

[He Hate Me]

I do think that Beckett will be dominant if the Sox can make the playoffs, becuase I think he will go for broke and worry about the blisters in the offseason. However, his curve could be a little flat if he hasn't been using it as much this year.

[ksushi]

You think maybe he has been pitching half assed for worry of the blisters? Thats interesting.

[He Hate Me]

You think maybe he has been pitching half assed for worry of the blisters? Thats interesting.

 

I could be wrong, but it is something I've picked up from the Red Sox contingent on other sites that I've frequented. Someone put up a stat that hes thrown like a really high percentage of fastballs. It was also mentioned that he bandaids or protects his fingertips during bullpen sessions. The speculation was that they were cutting down or perhaps he himself was cutting down on the number of curveballs because it is the main factor behind his blister problems. I don't know why he just doesn't pickup a guitar in offseason. I had callouses after my first day of lessons.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

You think maybe he has been pitching half assed for worry of the blisters? Thats interesting.

 

Sometimes I wonder about that. Its crazy to discuss the secrets within baseball because none of us know. It is quite possible we could see Josh Beckett turn it on another notch walking into September. The Red Sox would have Tim Wakefield back and have a chance to make a strong run.

 

Its the same thing with rookies. The time a team would love to bring up the top prospects is within the last couple months. You all saw the early success of Lester, Delcarmen, and Hansen and now they are struggling. Thats because they needed to come up early. I'm sure if the front office had it there way thats what would have happened. Unfortunatly they did a very poor job evaluating the players to be on the pitcing staff at the beginning of the season.

 

I'm not a fan of a player saving himself for the final run. I like players who play hard everyday knowing that despite its a long season....games count.

[Dana Kiecker]

He needs to go to the Moises Alou school of toughening up his hands..

 

I tried it and my keyboard hasnt smelled the same since.

[Teddyballgame10]

Beckett is too predictable, that's his main problem. During games, when he throws a bad curveball, he'll decide to dump the pitch all together and stick with fastball, after fastball, after fastball. Not to mention, everything seems to be over the plate. He could get away with that stuff in the NL, but not in the AL.

 

Like jsinger brought up above, Beckett needs to develop another pitch, and a splitter would be a perfect compliment to his fastball. But along with developing another pitch and improving his changeup, Beckett needs to learn how to locate and how to take something off of his pitches. Everything he throws, including his curveball, is hard.

 

The Red Sox also need to pick up another pitcher this off-season, possibly in a trade (Oswalt?). Beckett isn't ready to be a top-2 pitcher in the Red Sox rotation right now, so maybe by the time Schilling retires after next season, he, along with a newly acquired frontline guy, can anchor the Red Sox pitching staff for the future.

 

This is exactly right. He basically only has two pitches. . .remember the game vs the yankees when he didnt have his curve they knew all he had was his fastball. . .forget the NL you cant get that past any major league hitter when they know its coming. He needs another controable pitch.