Josh Beckett to Miss Friday's Start With Back Spasms

by Randy Booth on May 11, 2010 4:21 PM EDT in News

Josh Beckett will miss his Friday start with back spasms, according to multiple Tweets from Boston beat writers.

Beckett isn't expected to miss a lot of time with the back injury.

The rotation will stick to the schedule after Tim Wakefield makes the start on Wednesday.

The back issues may be why Beckett has been struggling all season long. His velocity on his fastball is down and, overall, his numbers have been sub-par. Maybe a week of rest will do him good.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a bigger deal than what Terry Francona is making it. There's a history of saying, "Oh, he'll be fine," and it turns into something bigger. That may be the case here, but for the sake of the Red Sox, let's hope it's nothing, he gets better and returns to the old Josh Beckett.

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Comments

Is it wrong that my initial response is "Yay"

USG

by Ben Buchanan on May 11, 2010 4:28 PM EDT reply actions

mine was to.
Beckett sucks.
who gets the call when he hits the DL?

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by bestbostonsports on May 11, 2010 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Nobody good

The Sox need Beckett to be effective or they’re going nowhere.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on May 11, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions

yes

by Buzzy on May 11, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

When bestbostonsports has the same response as you

Then yes: You are wrong!

Westmoreland recently asked his son how he was feeling, and the response the father received didn't surprise him. "I'm going to be in Portland next year," Ryan said.

by radiohix on May 11, 2010 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions

>:(

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by bestbostonsports on May 11, 2010 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Now the next road trip changes a bit.

Against the Tigers we throw Buchholz, Lester, and Lackey.
Against the pinstripes we line up to throw Matsuzaka and Wakefield.
We need three out of five on this trip.

" Play Ball "

by went9 on May 11, 2010 4:44 PM EDT reply actions

I can tell you the two we don't win!

I LOVE PEDROIA!!! ITS MAN LOVE!

by kraken613 on May 11, 2010 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

And those are the two we need to win the most.

Head to Head against the Yanks and Ray’s are huge. If we had done our job at home against both teams (even 5-5 instead of 2-8), and we wouldn’t need to be grinding right now. The five games coming up vs Ray’s and Yank’s need to go 4-1 in our favor.
Let’s see how deep this pitching line up really is on these next two road trips.
And there’s a chance Beckett misses both of them.

" Play Ball "

by went9 on May 11, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions

What?

The back issues may be why Beckett has been struggling all season long. His velocity on his fastball is down

Beckett FB velocity:
2009: 93.9 mph
2010: 93.8 mph
Velocity is NOT the issue!

Westmoreland recently asked his son how he was feeling, and the response the father received didn't surprise him. "I'm going to be in Portland next year," Ryan said.

by radiohix on May 11, 2010 4:46 PM EDT reply actions

its more location than anything.

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by bestbostonsports on May 11, 2010 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

He was ridiculous the first 3 innings and it wasn’t that he started slowly grooving them down the middle of the plate in the 6th. It was that he hung a few curves and then couldn’t find the strike zone.

I LOVE PEDROIA!!! ITS MAN LOVE!

by kraken613 on May 11, 2010 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

How about not throwing the game away

in the sixth by losing his cool with a short fuse. That was bullshit.

" Play Ball "

by went9 on May 11, 2010 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

agree

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by bestbostonsports on May 11, 2010 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

According to Fangraphs

His velocity is down on all of his pitches this season.

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by Randy Booth on May 11, 2010 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Wrong

You can state that a pitcher FASTBALL (because that what you wrote right?) velocity is down if we’re speaking about about 2-3 mph drop but 0.6 mph? and after 7 starts (Pitchers velocity tend to peak as the season goes on because of the arm strength they’ve built)? Please!

Westmoreland recently asked his son how he was feeling, and the response the father received didn't surprise him. "I'm going to be in Portland next year," Ryan said.

by radiohix on May 12, 2010 3:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Didn’t he have back problems a few years ago?! Also, who is going to start on Friday, or are we just going to skip him and pitch Buchholz on short rest?

by JLS89 on May 11, 2010 5:03 PM EDT reply actions

Buchholz on an extra days rest.

He pitched on the 8th. Friday is the 14th. 6 days

" Play Ball "

by went9 on May 11, 2010 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh ok! That makes sense… I’m not by my sox schedule right now, so I didn’t realize that we had an off day on Thursday. Since tomorrow is a “get away day” game I thought that we had a 4 game weekend series. But that works out well for the rotation, not for his injury.

by JLS89 on May 11, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions