If he doesn’t find his lights-out stuff, the Red Sox will have the lights turned out on their season. And if they do hold off the Rangers and Rays for the AL wild card, it will be tough for Boston to make any noise in the playoffs when its No. 1 gun is serving up home runs like dollar beers.
The good news is that Beckett has about eight starts to regain his form.
The bad news is that his curveball looks flatter than Kansas. Without that 12-to-6 yakker, Beckett might as well change his name to Bruce Banner – because that’s how un-incredible the former 20-game winner has become.
In his last two starts, Beckett has allowed 15 runs on 18 hits in 13 1/3 innings. If that’s not ugly enough, he has allowed 10 home runs in his last three starts, as many jacks as he surrendered in his first 22 starts of the season.
Opposing lineups should be shaking in their boots with Beckett on the mound, but lately, they’ve been licking their chops at the thought of facing one of his Frisbee tosses — he hangs ‘em, they bang ‘em.
It has nothing to do with whether Jason Varitek or Victor Martinez is catching. That theory was disproved Sunday, when Beckett threw batting practice for the Yankees and Tek was behind the plate. However, there are plenty of other hypotheses for his sudden reversal of fortune.
Is Beckett fatigued?
Is his arm too tired to generate the arm speed necessary to drop the ball off the table?
Is it a mechanical issue?
Is he following through on his pitches?
Has he lost his edge?
Any of these could be a plausible explanation. Until Beckett figures out the issue, his ace form is going to remain on a milk carton, the Red Sox’ hopes for ending the season with a duck boat parade will remain on life support and all citizens of Red Sox Nation are going to have their stomachs in their throats every time he takes the mound.
Pitching mastery is all about command, movement, changing speeds and velocity. Possessing three of the four elements leads to success. Having one of the four pieces leads to sleepness nights. Beckett is still bringing the heat, but major league hitters eventually catch up to fastballs, no matter how fast they’re thrown. Keeping hitters off balance with location and pitch selection – changing their plane of sight — is the only way to beat them.
Beckett hasn’t forgotten how to throw a curve. The 29-year-old right-hander just isn’t snapping off those sharp hooks, and he’s paying the price for it. The quicker he returns to fist pumps and primal screams on the mound instead of shell-shocked looks into the heavens, the better chance the Red Sox will have of extending their season.
If Clay Buchholz can turn things around and Junichi Tazawa can shut down the Bronx Bombers, there is hope for Beckett. But a team is only as strong as its weakest link.
Right now, the Red Sox’ biggest asset in their in rotation has turned into their biggest liability. That is not a recipe for a pennant. That’s a recipe for front-row, living room seats in October.
So put out an APB. Place missing signs on every telephone pole, tree and bulletin board in New England. Organize a search party. And canvas every neighborhood within a 150-mile radius of Fenway Park.
Josh Beckett has lost his curveball, and he needs all the help he can get to find it.
