At What Point?
When is it fair to ask your stud 25-year old to simply step up? He throws 97, has a hook that, say, 90% of MLB’s pitchers would kill for but what does he have to show for it?
I don’t really have any answers here and I am inclined to assume he is trying his best but man, is it so much to ask for a quality start from time to time?
I find it really hard to get overly angry when a guy the Sox were right in thinking they could depend on for quality pitching turns out to let them down time and again.
Josh Beckett has sucked and the Sox have paid dearly. And I guess that just sucks.
Yeah he’s frustrating. Occasionally you see a dominant performance, but more often than not he’s either very mediocre or very poor.
There are two things we all forget when it comes to Mr. Beckett – he’s very young and he was dominant in AAA . . . er, the NL.
I’m betting he figures the AL out and matures, but not before this season is over.
Josh Beckett has been bad.
Josh Beckett has great stuff.
Josh Beckett hasn’t made any adjustments all year.
Don’t we have some sort of coach who handles the pitchers? I mean, I see Al Nipper in the dugout, could that be his job? What exactly has he done this year? I’m curious to see if the return of Dave Wallace helps Beckett but I’ve been fascinated at the lack of attention Nipper has received this year. I’m guessing he’s been more impactful (in a negative way) than Dale Sveum ever was.
I feel the same way, Joe. He has the stuff to get outs.
SO SOMEBODDY TELL HIM HOW TO JUST GO AND GET SOME FREAKIN’ OUTS!!!
I’m not a bright man, but I opposed the Beckett deal from the start for exactly this reason. As if the switch from the terrible NL East to the great AL East wasn’t big enough, and the switch from Pro Player to Fenway wouldn’t kill him (ironically, of course, Fenway is now an extreme pitcher’s park in some ways), his numbers in the NL weren’t drop-dead incredible.
I predicted he’d have a 4.5-5.0 ERA and would be a big disappointment, and unfortunately I was proven correct. We never should’ve given up Sanchez, who has a perfectly wonderful 4.1 ERA for a 22 year old, and Hanley who if nothing else is a warm body at short who steals tons of bases.
It’s a shame, really. Beckett must be so thrilled Lowell was included in that deal, since otherwise Boston would eat him alive at this point.
I didn’t expect him to be dominant, I thought the Pedro comps were asinine. But I didn’t expect him to struggle this badly (I was thinking low to mid 4s). What gets me though is the lack of improvement which to me is on Nipper. Beckett is still young enough that I wouldn’t expect him to be adept at making adjustments on his own.
Do you think Al Nipper can just flip a switch and make Beckett throw well? To get down on Beckett is one thing but to try to blame the pitching coach is completely baseless unless you have been involved in coaching sessions with him and Josh.
He saved his worst for today, he was brutal.