Scott Cordischi On Sports: Pitching Performance

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Cordischi

Hindsight is 20/20. And, given that it may be the only perfect science known to man, allow me to use it to second guess the contract extension the Red Sox signed Josh Beckett to in April of this year.

On paper and in theory it was a stroke of genius by Sox GM Theo Epstein. He was locking up the staff’s ace for four more seasons and essentially assuring that the rotation was solidified through 2014. John Lackey had just been signed through 2014 and youngsters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz were under the team’s control for five more seasons. Great!

But then something happened this season. Beckett went from being an ace to a below average starting pitcher. And now that 4-year extension worth a total of 68 million dollars isn’t looking like such a bargain.

The question is: should Theo have seen this coming. The short answer might be “no” but consider the following. Beckett went 12-10 with a 4.03 ERA in 2008 having missed starts due to a lower back strain and inflammation of his pitching elbow.

He followed that up with a 2009 campaign which saw him finish 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA. Those are very good numbers, but they fall somewhere short of “great.”

It makes you wonder if Beckett didn’t know that his ailing back was more of an issue than the team’s doctors believed. Upon signing him to the extension in April, Epstein said, “we have outstanding medical reports. The commitment we made today demonstrates that. There’s not a medical reason why (his success) shouldn’t continue.”

Okay, then what’s the problem? Either the Red Sox medical reports aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on or Beckett has inexplicably suffered a sharp decline in his talent level over the past few months.

Either way, it makes 2011 a very big season for both Beckett and the Red Sox. If Beckett continues to struggle next year or spend more time on the DL with back or elbow problems, this will have been a bad signing by Boston. And I don’t remember anyone, myself included, second-guessing it back on April 5^th.

-Summer in New England isn’t quite as exciting when the Red Sox aren’t a virtual lock to be a playoff team in October.

-Speaking of summer, was it hot enough for you yesterday? Okay, how about today?

-I’m not complaining, mind you. I’ll take this hot and steamy weather any day over what winter has to offer.

-Bill Belichick told all of the starters to be prepared to play in the preseason finale against the Giants tomorrow night. Do you really think that he want to keep Tom Brady out there for very long in that game?

-Isn’t it funny how the Los Angeles media and Dodger fans thought that we were all just bitter about Manny’s departure when we warned them of the type of problem he can be? It seems to me that we were right.

-And they’ll probably learn that in the south side of Chicago before too long.

-You know that it has been a hot and dry summer throughout the country when a California golfer’s swing hit a rock causing a spark which ignited a 12-acre blaze.

-Funny how PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem quietly announced this week that the Tour has suspended the rule that kept Jim Furyk from playing in the Barclays last weekend for oversleeping and showing up late for his pro-am tee time.

-Speaking of golf, there’s a chance that this may be the last year for the Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC-Boston in Norton, Massachusetts. The event takes place this weekend.

-Depending upon the track of Hurricane Earl, it could make for a very interesting tournament.

-Leigh Bodden being placed on the season-ending injured reserve list is a big blow to a Patriots defense which already has its share of questionmarks.

-That week 2 match-up between the Pats and Jets at the Meadowlands can’t get here fast enough.

-Then again, the Pats better not look past a good Cincinnati team in their season-opener.

-When you struggle against teams like the Orioles, Royals and Mariners, you really don’t deserve to go to the playoffs.