Plenty left for Beckett to prove in ?07
By simply looking at his final statistics, it would be natural to assume that Josh Beckett first season with the Red Sox was a phenomenal success.
The right-hander set career highs with 16 wins, 33 starts and 204 2/3 innings pitched - leading the team in each category - and avoided the chronic blister problem on his pitching hand that had led to nine stays on the disabled list during the first four full seasons of his career.
Upon further review, however, Beckett finished up with plenty more to prove because of his maddening inconsistency, particularly in the second half of 2006. He became Major League Baseball?s first 10-game winner with a 7-3 victory in Oakland on July 24, then played a contributing role in the team?s collapse by going only 6-8 the rest of the way. His record included a woeful 1-4 mark with a 6.38 ERA in six starts during the team?s August freefall.
For the entire season, Beckett had an impressive 2.22 ERA in his 16 wins. But in the 11 losses his ERA ballooned to 10.36. In six no-decisions, he posted a 5.02 ERA.
Beckett, who will make his second start of the season today in the home opener against the Seattle Mariners after winning outing No. 1 in Kansas City, said he learned valuable lessons from his unraveling - and vowed not to repeat them in 2007.
?I think this year is kind of a new chapter,? Beckett said. ?I thought last year was a new chapter, too, but I?m kind of settled in now.?
Beckett, who agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract extension last July, arrived at spring training this year willing to do what it takes to avoid the same pitfalls. He made a pair of key adjustments that worked to near perfection in Grapefruit League play.
Beckett decided to rework his delivery, reverting to a slower windup that worked well during his years with the Florida Marlins, while successfully mixing in a higher percentage of curveballs.
?Velocity certainly helps but commanding the baseball helps more than anything,? manager Terry Francona said. ?If you command three pitches and then you add the velocity and life to the fastball, you have a chance to overwhelm some people.?
The new delivery promises to add a degree of deception that will keep opponents guessing and, hopefully, prevent them from sitting on the fastball.
?I think I?m going slower at the beginning and not rushing through the delivery,? Beckett said. ?It helps me throw the ball late. All my power is like a golf swing. Your power is the last three feet of your swing. It?s the same thing with pitching. The last foot-and-a-half of my arm slot will dictate how hard I?m going to throw the ball and where I?m going to throw it.?
The curveball was also quite effective during spring training. Last year, partly in an effort to avoid the finger blisters, Beckett cut way back on the number of breaking balls he threw. Doctors have determined, however, that the blister problem most likely was a result of a case of undiagnosed eczema, which is now being treated.
?It?s hard to hone in on a 95-96 mph fastball when there are two different speeds coming at you,? Francona said.
With a different delivery and varied pitch selection, Beckett hopes that his numbers at the end of 2007 don?t hold any hidden meaning.
?The key is just relaxing and throwing my pitches, and getting back to the way I used to throw,? he said.
