Beckett made a tiny change in his delivery that helped him throw 3 2/3 solid innings against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, his first start in nine days.
After missing an outing due to a concussion suffered on a wayward ball in batting practice, Beckett threw a simulated game Friday on the back field at City of Palms Park. Then, while trying to recover on just a few days of rest, he sat down with pitching coach Curt Young and went over a few things.
The result of the meeting was Beckett and Young concluding that the righty was striding too far in his delivery. He shortened things up in between the simulated game and Tuesday's start. The results were notable, especially on the curveball.
"Yeah, my curveball was good," Beckett said. "We changed a couple of things in my delivery. We're still making adjustments. I felt the adjustments came faster with my breaking ball."
The evidence came in the form of strikeouts to end each of the first three innings, all of them on nasty curveballs. He blew a fastball by another Astros hitter for a fourth punchout.
Two of the three hits surrendered by Beckett were soft. One came on a misjudged pop to right that fell in before a diving Josh Reddick. Another was muffed at third base by Nate Spears and went as a base hit. Beckett walked just one.
"Pretty good," manager Terry Francona said of the outing. "Thought he threw his fastball downhill. Stayed out of the middle. Especially coming off a missed outing, thought he looked pretty strong. The run they scored, the fly ball to right where [Reddick] probably didn't get a good enough jump on with the wind.
"I think we're all pretty pleased. Threw some good breaking balls."
Beckett threw that breaking ball 18.2 percent of the time in 2010 after using it at least 21 percent of the time in his first four years in Boston, according to fangraphs.com. Also, it was not as effective as it had been in years past.
This tiny alteration, not immediately apparent to the casual observer, could help him regain his dominance — in his two best seasons with the Red Sox, Beckett used the curveball on more than 25 percent of his pitches.
For now, he's content with a positive alteration and the fact that he can simply get back to a normal routine after a week of upheaval.
"I think those two days off definitely made me a little more sore [Tuesday] going in," Beckett said. "I had short rest last time and short rest this time. I think eventually it catches up to you. I got my pitches in today, I feel fine. Just ready for a normal five-day deal."
Beckett, who has had his fair share of misfortune in the month of March, knows the value of finally being able to get into a rhythm.
"Getting through spring training is big, because then you're not playing catch-up," he said. "When I got here in '06 I always preached that to myself, getting out of spring training healthy. Tito says it very well — there are some guys here who are trying to get ready for a long season. There are some guys who are trying to make a team and there's the other guys. I think I fit in that group where I'm trying to get ready for a long season. This time of year is very important."
The 30-year-old said that the core stability training he did this offseason is still paying off now four weeks into his throwing. Physically he feels great. With a small adjustment, the throwing itself is also going rather well.
