Josh Beckett Shows Troubling Signs in Boston Red Sox' Loss to Indians Tuesday

Wednesday's stories about the Red Sox Tuesday night 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians will accurately cite the Red Sox lack of hitting as the key to the defeat. 

Observers will note that Josh Beckett "battled," but had to leave after only five innings due to a high pitch count.

But the striking development was that Beckett looked like a completely different pitcher than in previous seasons. He was openly using his fastball in a less prominent, dominant role. Rather, he threw a ton of off-speed pitches—either changeups or curves—and often, he did so at moments in the count when, previously, he probably would have thrown a fastball. 

New England Sports Network (NESN) reported after the game that of Beckett's 106 pitches, he threw 57 fastballs, 27 changeups, 16 curveballs and six cutters. 

So at first, you might say, this must be a good sign that Beckett is trying to make adjustments to get past his struggles in the past two years. 

However, the ominous undercurrent to this story is that Beckett's fastball simply is not that good any more—period. 

On Tuesday night, Beckett threw many of his fastballs at 92 mph and quite a few at 90 mph. I saw only two that reached 93 mph.

The "old Beckett" of 2007 used to routinely throw many fastballs at 94-96 mph, including a fair number at 96 mph. Further, Beckett's "old" fastball had more movement on it than the one I saw vs. the Indians.

Beckett, on Tuesday night, simply looked like a mediocre pitcher in the last phase of his career who was trying to "get by" against a bad Cleveland team. This former "power pitcher" now has an "average" fastball, at best, and that's scary. 

NESN commentator, former pitcher Dennis Eckersley, noted afterward how much Beckett mixed in off-speed pitches in this game and later added: "...He just didn't have anything to put them away."

I thought that Eckersley, either intentionally or unintentionally, was alluding to Beckett lacking an "out" pitch Tuesday night; that pitch has usually been his fastball, and, sometimes, his curveball, as an effective secondary pitch.

It appears that Beckett is trying to reinvent himself by evolving from a power pitcher into one who throws a "mix" of pitches. He threw more off-speed pitches in this game than any game I can remember. 

But the most dramatic change was that Beckett didn't use his fastball as his No. 1 pitch for much of the night. 

Often, Beckett seemed to try to "sneak in" his fastball on the outside corner between changeups and curves. This is a different mixture of pitches than anything we've seen from Beckett since he's been on the Red Sox. 

He's always thrown his fastball the most and treated it as his best pitch—the one that will get him out of a jam. Well, on Tuesday, it sure seemed that approach was gone.

Worsening matters is that my strong impression is that Beckett is trying to reinvent himself because he knows his fastball isn't as good. In fact, on Tuesday night, Beckett seemed to be very "careful" about where he placed his fastball. He didn't unleash it with the same confidence of a few years ago.

As NESN's Don Orsillo and Jery Remy pointed out, Beckett's had the most success in the first two innings, when he threw only 24 pitches and the Indians were swinging more aggressively. 

Then, when the Indians became more selective in Beckett's last three innings (three through five), Beckett walked four hitters, got into long counts and gave up a few hits and runs.  

For example, in the fifth inning, Beckett ran the count to 3-2 vs. Asdrubal Cabrera was forced to throw a fastball. It seemed a very hittable fastball that caught too much of the plate Cabrera belted a double to deep left and later scored.  

As I watched Beckett try to nibble at the corners with his slower fastball, there were moments I thought I was seeing a different pitcher from Red Sox past—someone like John Burkett. 

Then, to my surprise, Beckett repeatedly threw his new changeup in close counts. 

On a positive note, his new changeup is much better than his previous changeup. It has movement and dips downward to the right. While it's not like Pedro Martinez's dazzling changeup that was often an "out" pitch, Beckett's is much improved and he used it to get swinging strikes on two of his four strikeouts.   

The bottom-line: I think it's good that Beckett, with the support of the Red Sox, is trying to change his approach, but I have very serious doubts that Beckett can be a very good pitcher without a better fastball.  

Think about it: He's relied on a powerful fastball for his whole career. Now, it's gone and he's grasping at straws trying to find a new mix. 

I hope he can overcome the enormous odds against him.