in your handicapping binder for beckett's next start.
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Beckett may be tipping hand
The whispered rumor spread through the Marlins? clubhouse after a tip from a visiting King:
The reason, the visitor said, that Cincinnati hitters hit Josh Beckett on Wednesday night as if they knew what pitch was coming next was because they did know what pitch was coming.
The Kid was tipping his pitches. So said Jim ?The King? Leyritz, semi-retired catcher and Broward County resident, who came by the clubhouse Thursday and confirmed pitching coach Brad Arnsberg?s suspicions.
Beckett took a beating, charged with eight hits and six runs in one-plus innings. Eight of 12 batters he faced got hits. This against a pitcher who had allowed a .179 average in 12 major league starts and more than three runs only once.
?There?s something wrong,? Arnsberg said, ?when they get eight hits in one inning, and the way they spit on [took] the balls and swung at strikes. I said early to Skip [manager Jeff Torborg], ?They?ve got his stuff.?
?Josh won?t use it as an excuse; I?m saying it, not Josh. But we?re watching the film right now, and there?s something there. We?ll nip it in the bud??
?Don?t get me wrong: He had poor location. He was up in the zone, and he was rolling some breaking balls instead of snapping. But from the pitches they took, it was like they knew what he was going to throw.?
Leyritz, the former Yankees and Padres postseason hero, said it was easy to tell when Beckett was going to throw his fastball or breaking ball because of a difference in the way he held his glove starting his delivery.
?I don?t know if I buy it,? said Beckett, who blamed his performance on nothing more than poor execution of pitches, specifically too many left up in the strike zone. ?I mean, [Mets second baseman Roberto] Alomar is supposed to be one of the best at [picking up tipped pitches]. So why didn?t the Mets get me??
Friday at Shea Stadium, Beckett took a perfect game into the fifth inning before allowing a run and two hits in six and lowering his ERA to 2.90. It rose to 4.09 after Wednesday?s debacle, which several Reds hitters said had nothing to do with tipped pitches.
?He wasn?t doing that to me,? said second baseman Todd Walker, his team?s leading practitioner of spotting tipped pitches. ?He?s going to think that was the reason, but everything was up.?
Arnsberg cited as evidence a hit by Sean Casey on a curveball with two balls and one strike.
?Casey?s a fastball hitter and Josh is a fastball pitcher, but he was [waiting] for that curveball,? Arnsberg said, ?like he knew it was coming.?
Casey, who went 2 for 2 against Beckett, said he didn?t pick up tipped pitches. ?He was just leaving his curve flat, and his fastball was up.?
But Reds slugger Adam Dunn said, ?I think he was [tipping]. I only saw two pitches, but I could see it on the bench easily. He was going real deep into his glove to throw breaking pitches.?
Aaron Boone chimed in: ?Why didn?t you tell me? I?m not good at picking it up.?
First-inning fits
Beckett?s outing was the latest in a line of first-inning meltdowns for Marlins pitchers, who allowed a league-high .288 average and league-high 24 homers in the first innings of 53 games before Thursday.
The worst offender has been Julian Tavarez, who has yielded an astonishing .541 average (20 for 37) with eight doubles, two homers and a .919 slugging percentage in the opening innings of his starts.
Brad Penny has allowed a .400 average and .800 slugging percentage in the first inning, and Beckett is up to a .359 average and .615 slugging percentage allowed in opening frames. Ryan Dempster, plagued by first-inning woes much of his career, has allowed a .302 average and .535 slugging percentage this season.
Among regular rotation members, A.J. Burnett is alone in producing exemplary work in the first inning (.154 average, .179 slugging percentage).
Starters underwhelming
Expected to be the team?s main asset entering the season, Marlins starters ranked 13th in the league with a 4.73 ERA before Thursday. Their 16-22 record was worse than every NL rotation except Milwaukee?s 12-26, and Marlins starters had issued a league-high 146 walks in 312 1/3 innings.
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Beckett may be tipping hand
The whispered rumor spread through the Marlins? clubhouse after a tip from a visiting King:
The reason, the visitor said, that Cincinnati hitters hit Josh Beckett on Wednesday night as if they knew what pitch was coming next was because they did know what pitch was coming.
The Kid was tipping his pitches. So said Jim ?The King? Leyritz, semi-retired catcher and Broward County resident, who came by the clubhouse Thursday and confirmed pitching coach Brad Arnsberg?s suspicions.
Beckett took a beating, charged with eight hits and six runs in one-plus innings. Eight of 12 batters he faced got hits. This against a pitcher who had allowed a .179 average in 12 major league starts and more than three runs only once.
?There?s something wrong,? Arnsberg said, ?when they get eight hits in one inning, and the way they spit on [took] the balls and swung at strikes. I said early to Skip [manager Jeff Torborg], ?They?ve got his stuff.?
?Josh won?t use it as an excuse; I?m saying it, not Josh. But we?re watching the film right now, and there?s something there. We?ll nip it in the bud??
?Don?t get me wrong: He had poor location. He was up in the zone, and he was rolling some breaking balls instead of snapping. But from the pitches they took, it was like they knew what he was going to throw.?
Leyritz, the former Yankees and Padres postseason hero, said it was easy to tell when Beckett was going to throw his fastball or breaking ball because of a difference in the way he held his glove starting his delivery.
?I don?t know if I buy it,? said Beckett, who blamed his performance on nothing more than poor execution of pitches, specifically too many left up in the strike zone. ?I mean, [Mets second baseman Roberto] Alomar is supposed to be one of the best at [picking up tipped pitches]. So why didn?t the Mets get me??
Friday at Shea Stadium, Beckett took a perfect game into the fifth inning before allowing a run and two hits in six and lowering his ERA to 2.90. It rose to 4.09 after Wednesday?s debacle, which several Reds hitters said had nothing to do with tipped pitches.
?He wasn?t doing that to me,? said second baseman Todd Walker, his team?s leading practitioner of spotting tipped pitches. ?He?s going to think that was the reason, but everything was up.?
Arnsberg cited as evidence a hit by Sean Casey on a curveball with two balls and one strike.
?Casey?s a fastball hitter and Josh is a fastball pitcher, but he was [waiting] for that curveball,? Arnsberg said, ?like he knew it was coming.?
Casey, who went 2 for 2 against Beckett, said he didn?t pick up tipped pitches. ?He was just leaving his curve flat, and his fastball was up.?
But Reds slugger Adam Dunn said, ?I think he was [tipping]. I only saw two pitches, but I could see it on the bench easily. He was going real deep into his glove to throw breaking pitches.?
Aaron Boone chimed in: ?Why didn?t you tell me? I?m not good at picking it up.?
First-inning fits
Beckett?s outing was the latest in a line of first-inning meltdowns for Marlins pitchers, who allowed a league-high .288 average and league-high 24 homers in the first innings of 53 games before Thursday.
The worst offender has been Julian Tavarez, who has yielded an astonishing .541 average (20 for 37) with eight doubles, two homers and a .919 slugging percentage in the opening innings of his starts.
Brad Penny has allowed a .400 average and .800 slugging percentage in the first inning, and Beckett is up to a .359 average and .615 slugging percentage allowed in opening frames. Ryan Dempster, plagued by first-inning woes much of his career, has allowed a .302 average and .535 slugging percentage this season.
Among regular rotation members, A.J. Burnett is alone in producing exemplary work in the first inning (.154 average, .179 slugging percentage).
Starters underwhelming
Expected to be the team?s main asset entering the season, Marlins starters ranked 13th in the league with a 4.73 ERA before Thursday. Their 16-22 record was worse than every NL rotation except Milwaukee?s 12-26, and Marlins starters had issued a league-high 146 walks in 312 1/3 innings.
