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March 23, 2008
By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer
FORT MYERS, Fla. _ After the PawSox completed their camp day intrasquad game this morning at the minor-league complex, manager Ron Johnson was quite impressed with rehabbing Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett.
The right-hander worked two innings and threw 35 pitches, but it wasn’t his on-field presence that caught the eye of Johnson, it was Beckett’s approach to the rehab start that was impressive.
“He approached it like he was pitching at Fenway Park,” said Johnson. “He was high-5ing the guys in the dugout, and it’s a good thing for the younger guys to take notice.”
It was Beckett’s first game action since he suffered back spasms prior to his scheduled start against the Marlins on March 8. In the meantime he’s been throwing bullpen sessions. He was quick and efficient today.
“There were no problems,” he said. “The back is healthy and I’m still day-to-day. I’ll come in [Monday] and hopefully I’ll feel good so I can do normal Day One stuff.”
IEven though he looked and felt good during his brief outing today, Beckett still wants to be cautious.
“It’s just one of those things where you go out there everyday you feel good and progress yourself back,” he said. “I think [Sunday] was a good mental hurdle to get over to prove to yourself that your back’s not hurt. I got past that and now I get into the building-up stage.”
His next scheduled start will be Thursday and he could increase his workload to 50 pitches, depending how he feels between now and then.
Even though Beckett does not know when he’ll rejoin the club, manager Terry Francona said the other day in Japan that it’s likely Beckett will start the season on the disabled list.
“Absolutely it’s a possibility,” he said. “I think it’s been a possibility the whole time. I think that’s what everyone was preparing for – it is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it. This thing happened and as frustrating as it is, I don’t think it’s something that I can control. I’m just focusing on what I’m trying to do. I can’t worry about missing a couple of starts. The most important thing for me, and for the team too, is for me to be healthy in July. Obviously we don’t want it to take that long, but if that’s how long it took then that’s what we need to do. There’s no sense going out there and killing yourself to get back for an April 1 start when you’ve only thrown seven innings.”
Beckett said he needs another 14 more innings in Florida and then he’ll be prepared.
There’s no doubt the 27-year-old is older, wiser and more mature than he was after his first World Series championship as a member of the Florida Marlins in 2003.
It was during that Fall Classic when he turned in a legendary performance by beating the Yankees with his complete-game five-hit shutout on just three days rest in the decisive Game Six of the Series. For his efforts he was named World Series MVP.
The following season he struggled a bit and faced a little more adversity than he was used to. Plus, he wasn’t alone as most of the Marlins seemed banged up both emotionally and physically from the World Series victory.
Beckett said he’s seeing the same kinds of things with the Red Sox this spring.
The difference between the 2003 postseason and the 2007 postseason was the length of the playoffs. In ’03 the Marlins were done with the celebrations and already resting at home on Oct. 15. Last season the Red Sox didn’t get home until Nov. 5, making the offseason a rather short one.
“That’s not much of an offseason,” said Beckett. “You take a couple of weeks off and you’re right back out. I really can’t compare the two [offseasons] but after 2003 I remember there were a lot of knick-knack injuries in ’04 with the guys coming back off the World Series during spring training. It’s just enough time for you to go home and relax for a couple of minutes, but you really don’t get to mentally relax because you know you’re starting your workout two or three weeks later. In ’04 we had a lot of knick-knack injuries, just like we had this year.”
Since coming to Boston via trade prior to the 2006 season, Beckett has thrown back-to-back seasons of 200-plus innings for the Red Sox. It is the only two times during his major league career he’s reached such a plateau.
There’s also a possibility his latest injury had something to do with his workload last season, including the short offseason due to the World Series victory.
“I think that definitely could have played a role in it,” he said. “The only reason I say that, and I’m not using it as an excuse, but I remember in ’04 when we came to spring training there were some guys who were banged up. During the course of spring training you get little aches and pains, but most people still end up starting the season with the team. I threw a lot of innings in October last year, and I threw a lot of innings in ’03, and ’04 wasn’t exactly a healthy year for me. I’m not saying this year is going to be like that, but you have to prepare a little bit different because you don’t have that full offseason to work out.”
Is that why you’re being more cautious this time around?
“This is such a freak deal for me because I’ve never had back issues at all,” he said. “I’m older now, so I’m a little wiser. I know the most important thing isn’t my April 10th start. It’s later on down the road and I have to be healthy once I get back with the big-league team, you need to be healthy for the rest of the time and not a stint here and a stint there. That’s doesn’t help the team and it doesn’t help you. It’s very hard to go out and pitch every fifth day when you’re going through a knick here and a knick there.”
Basically, Beckett doesn’t want to keep his teammates hanging. He wants to be there for them come October, just like he was last season.
Posted by Joe McDonald 
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