Josh Beckett: Red Sox Won't Right the Ship Until Pitcher Is on His Game

It wouldn't be a stretch to call the Boston Red Sox baseball's most disappointing team so far this season, and perhaps the biggest reason for that has been the play of No. 2 starting pitcher Josh Beckett.

Boston's demise began last season when it blew a huge playoff cushion late last season and ended up missing the postseason by losing its final game of the season while the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees in dramatic fashion. If that weren't enough, several disturbing things came to light, such as Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drinking beer in the clubhouse during games they weren't starting.

All of that turmoil led to long-time manager Terry Francona and the Red Sox parting ways in favor of Bobby Valentine. While Valentine's tenure thus far has been tumultuous to say the least, his issues have paled in comparison to Beckett. Not only is Beckett still in need of rebuilding his reputation after last year's fiasco, but he has been awful this season as well.

His 2-4 record, 5.97 ERA and 1.38 WHIP are all lackluster to say the least, but perhaps even more troubling has been his nonchalant attitude. Despite having to skip his turn in the rotation with tightness in his lat muscle, Beckett decided to play golf on his off day last week.

That was understandably met with plenty of criticism as he certainly shouldn't have been engaging in non-baseball athletic activities if an injury was preventing him from playing. Rather than admitting his mistake and apologizing, though, Beckett was defiant and maintained that he was allowed to do whatever he wanted on his off days.

He could have easily been forgiven had he followed up that blunder with a great on-field performance, however, Beckett proceeded to have his worst start of the year as he was booed off the mound after surrendering seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks in just 2.1 innings.

Beckett's play and antics have been a microcosm of Boston's 16-19 record this season and things won't fully turn around until Beckett gets his head screwed on right. Lester, who is the team's ace, finally straightened things out on his end last night as he turned in a complete-game, one-run performance against the Seattle Mariners, but that isn't enough.

The Sox can't win with just one starter pitching well and since Beckett is supposed to create a formidable one-two punch atop the rotation with Lester, the onus is now on him to figure it out. Beckett will start against the Mariners as well on Tuesday night and if ever there were a time for him to come up big, this start is certainly it.

Seattle is among the worst offensive squads in baseball and there is no reason why Beckett shouldn't have a good outing. His fastball has been flat and his breaking stuff hasn't worked either so far this season and any big-league lineup is going to take advantage of that. At 32 years of age I suppose that it's possible that Beckett is breaking down physically, but with all of the controversy he has been through, I'm more inclined to believe that his struggles stem from mental fatigue.

If Beckett doesn't start pitching well, then the Red Sox are extremely short on pitching as they're left with Lester, Clay Buchholz and inexperienced options like Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard. When you couple that with all of Boston's injuries offensively, they need something positive to happen and a winning start from Beckett would be as good as it gets at this point.

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