Friday, August 20, 2010
Beckett not impressive
With the injuries, his continued struggles, and inconsistency, I think we can safely say that Beckett is no longer the ace of this staff. Unfortunately, the 'Sox have committed $68M to him over the next few years. At this point in the season, 'Sox needed Beckett to come up big -- he didn't.
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Beckett is the ace IN a hole. I'm terribly disappointed with him. You can almost predict that after 5 innings, he's going to shut down. He and Tito are adamant that there's nothing physically wrong with him. If that's true then the team needs to send him to a sports pyschologist. You cannot just sign a big contract like he did and pitch the at the mediocre level we've seen him at this season. If two WS have taken their toll on Josh, if he doesn't want to pitch anymore then fine. But he should've thought about that before signing a new contract. I hate to say it, but the Sox are in a world of trouble with him, not just for the remainder of this season, but long term if they can only get 5 innings from him.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side of Beckett's bombing out, I have to say that I'm also annoyed with the two-time Gold Glover at third. How many more misplayed balls are we going to tolerate from Beltre? You can argue that the ball took a bad hop and he had no chance to make a play. Fair enough, but put your body on the line to stop that ball and get it into your glove! His miscue allowed a runner on and two batters later, Beckett coughs up a 3-run homer to Matsui. I have to ask "what if Beltre hadn't misplayed that liner to him two batters before?" The forgiveness factor is big because Beltre's hitting like .400, so no one's really going to challenge him on the shitty defense. How can you not know by now how fast the infield is at Fenway??
Across the diamond, Mikey's doing a killer job at first. I was on the train on my way home listening to the game on my Blackberry when he made that beautiful play at first. A low-tone cheer from me and a fist pump got me a few weird looks on the train. I had to explain "baseball game; Red Sox" while pointing to my earbuds so the passengers around me would get it. Red Sox Nation knows no code of conduct!!
Speaking of Mikey, I have to point out my superstition. I'm down with the whole routine thing the guys have. When the team was struggling in May, I was the one wearing the same clothes everyday, eating the same thing for dinner, and sitting in the same spot on the couch in an effort to try to get the karma flowing the right way. To that end, I'm superstitious about things like players' hair. Mikey has good hair. He's been hitting well since taking over at first. Well, he cut his hair sometime between Monday and Tuesday night's game. Now, he's not hitting! Take my advice, Michael. Best not to mess with success. Leave your hair alone!!