Re-signing Beckett was a no-brainer

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Excuse me if I don't do any back flips or call Theo a genius for signing Josh Beckett to a four-year extension. Why? Because I don't pat people on the back for making easy decisions.

When the Red Sox signed John Lackey to a lucrative deal this offseason, it was believed by some that the front office was preparing to let Beckett hit the free agent market at the end of the season with Lackey acting as his replacement. I had to chuckle.

And that's not a knock on Lackey, who is a fine pitcher. But Josh Beckett, whether you want to call him the ace or not, has been the anchor of the Red Sox pitching staff and there was no reason to let him go.

If the team is ready to pay $8.6 million to a player who is now playing for a division foe and pay another $12 million for a player who is essentially a backup designated hitter at this point in his career, it had better have been ready to pay the man with 65 wins and a .657 winning percentage and a 5-1 postseason mark in four years with the team.

With him retained, the Red Sox could have one of the most formidible pitching staffs in baseball for a long time. Beckett, Jon Lester and Lackey are now all assured spots in the rotation (barring something unexpected happening, of course) from now until 2013 and possibly 2014 if the Red Sox pick up Lester's option that year. Clay Buchholz, who many teams would love to have as a second or third starter down the road, is also under Red Sox' control until 2014. Granted, this is all with the unrealistic assumption that no one gets hurt, traded, etc.

Normally, I am not a fan of long-term deals with pitchers because so few of them have worked out and likewise, the deal with Lackey makes me nervous because he has had difficulty staying healthy. Beckett hasn't had such issues with the Red Sox, starting at least 30 games in three of the four seasons he's been in Boston. It's especially impressive after getting a reputation for being injury-prone with the Marlins, although he often voiced frustrations with them, once calling himself the healthiest man on the DL.

Beckett seems like an old man simply because he's been around forever. He pitched his first game at 21 years of age and will turn 31 in May, so the odds of this extension turning out to be a Mike Lowell-esque disaster are not as high.

I don't know if I like using the term "big game pitcher," but the bottom line is if you were looking for someone who fit that description on the Red Sox, it would have to be this guy. Given is track record, age and the fact that the price tag wasn't all that unreasonable, given what the team has handed out in terms of contracts recently, this was a no-brainer.

So congrats, Theo, on making maybe the easiest decision in your professional career.

Beckett gets bombed again

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Another outing like that and Josh Beckett will have pitched his way right out of Cy Young contention.

In fact, over his last two starts, Beckett has looked less like the ace and more like the shell-shocked National League pitcher who came to the Red Sox in 2006.

Before getting rocked in back-to-back outings, Beckett had won eight of his previous thirteen starts dating back to the beginning of June. Over that span he posted a 2.10 ERA and gave up six home runs. Fast forward to his last two outings against Toronto and tonight's debacle against the Yankees. Over those two games alone, Beckett allowed eight home runs and saw his season ERA rise just a shade under half a run.

This is not the time for Beckett to be imploding. Or is it?

Over his career, there is only one month that has been a losing one for Beckett and we just happen to be smack dab in the middle of that month. Going into tonight's game, Beckett had a career record of 14-15 with an ERA over 4.00 and historically, his K/BB ratio takes a dive.

But fear not, Sox fans, for we know more than any that Josh Beckett is no burnout. In fact, in September, he boasts a career 18-8 record and a 2.86 ERA, a 1.32 run difference from month to month. The division is all but decided and was before this series with the Yankees ever came to pass. But do not forget that there is still a month of meaningful baseball left to be played. Thanks to the loss tonight, the Texas Rangers are breathing down the Red Sox' necks at just a game back and Tampa Bay is making a play at the Wild Card after taking two of three from those Rangers.

While the Red Sox don't face Texas at all and will require help keeping them at bay, Boston has two upcoming series in September against the Rays. If the rotation continues in the pattern it should, Beckett will take his good September numbers and his solid numbers against the Rays (6-4, 3.63 ERA, 98 K in 84.1 innings) into what could be some critical games.

You always want your ace to be on, but this is especially the time when you need him to come up big. He failed to do it tonight, but history suggests he could be up to rebound in a big way.

We can only hope.

Does Boston have the arms to make the playoffs?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's really sad to see.

The team that was said of have one of the best pitching staffs in the game heading into the season is now relying on Clay Buchholz and Junichi Tazawa to get into the playoffs.

Remember when nothing made you more confident than to look at the Red Sox' rotation heading into a pivotal series? It seems a million years ago. Brad Penny didn't look so bad when he was your fifth starter. Now he's your third and lo and behold, the Red Sox are being left in the dust in the AL East and now trail in the Wild Card race.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have been all that you would expect them to be. Beckett has to be one of the favorites for the Cy Young award, especially with his current tear. He's 7-1 in his last 10 starts with a 1.93 ERA. Clearly he has done everything you could ask of your ace. Lester, likewise, has looked more than solid. He hasn't earned a decision in his last four starts, but has only allowed nine runs in 24.6 innings (3.29 ERA) in that span.

But Penny has been simply atrocious basically since the All-Star break. He's won just one of his six starts and dropped four with an ERA north of 6.50 after making Theo Epstein look like a genius over the first half of the season, especially when June rolled along. Perhaps the whiplash is getting to him, as he's allowed seven post-All-Star homers after giving up just 10 taters in 17 starts to begin the year.

Buchholz has done nothing to give Sox fans a warm and fuzzy feeling. He's learning the hard way once again that there's a major difference between AAA hitters and major league ones. Yes, he's been left out to dry in his last two starts by zero run support, but he's very lucky he hasn't gotten blown up with that 20/19 K/BB ratio. In fact, he's failed to strike out more batters than he's walked in each of his last three outings.

Tazawa has been placed in one tough position after another. Ok, go hold off the Yankees in extra innings in your first big-league appearance. Ok, go beat the Tigers on the road. Ok, help us hold the lead in the Wild Card against Texas. The kid has 20 professional appearances before being called up and while people have raved about his talent (though he has been overshadowed by Buchholz and Michael Bowden), he's still a green 23-year-old. Expect a lot more where today's outing came from against quality opponents (5 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 3BB, 0K).

Is this team and its postseason hopes fading away as its pitching staff falls apart? John Smoltz was an epic failure. You can't blame the organization for taking a gamble on a future Hall-of-Famer, but you can question their decision not to hold him out for longer, even when he complained. Anyone counting on Daisuke Matsuzaka needs to step away from the pipe and head to their nearest N.A. meeting. It seems ridiculous to say, but at this point, the Red Sox desperately need Tim Wakefield and unfortunately, he's still limping around.

Two pitchers does not a rotation make and at this point, that is what the Red Sox have to work with.

Beckett: Don't worry, bullpen. I got this one

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It was all too fitting.

A day after the Boston bullpen blew up once again, Josh Beckett did what you'd expect an ace to do. He picked up the Red Sox on his back and int he process, picked up his 100th career win.

The Red Sox bullpen has been one of the best for most of the first half, but they've also been one of the most overworked. Justin Masterson is on pace to throw over 120 innings after throwing just 153.1 over his first two seasons (that included 15 starts). Hideiki Okajima is on pace to excede his career high in innings, as is Ramon Ramirez. Jonathan Papelbon is on pace to surpass them both.

It's not because the Red Sox have decided to add more innings to their games. Daisuke Matsuzaka averaged just 4.1 innings per start before going on the DL with "shoulder weakness," otherwise known as leaving batting practice fastballs over the plate. Brad Penny, as good as he's been lately (3.44 ERA since the beginning of June), has averaged just about 5.2 innings per start. John Smoltz hasn't gone more than five innings since coming off the DL. Jon Lester has come around, but going seven innings was a struggle for him over the first two months of the season.

The All-Star break seems to be coming at just the right time for the Sox' pen, which is showing signed of weakeness over the past month or so. They still have the best ERA among American League bullpens, but over the last month, they have been strictly mediocre.

After watching them give up a combined six runs over the final three innings of last night's game, Beckett decided to give the pen a night off.

Beckett dominated over nine shutout innings, allowing just three hits. He struck out seven, including four of the first five batters he faced and threw 66 of his 94 pitches for strikes. That's right, folks. He needed just 94 pitches to go nine innings.

The shutout was the second of the season and his second in his last five games. Over that span, he's gone nine innings twice and seven innings twice and 6.2 innings once. He's not only eating innings, but he's being the guy he needs to be - a sure-fire winner. The righty is 4-0 and Red Sox are 5-0 over those five starts.

What's more, Beckett has a with a 1.63 ERA in those games. It's just scary.

When this guy's on, he's untouchable. The Red Sox need to hope he can keep being that guy.