Josh Beckett is Frustrated About Not Coming Off the DL? Yeah, Me Too.

When I realized that Josh Beckett was coming off the DL on June 3rd and that it was a day game I jumped at the opportunity to purchase a ticket so I could see him pitch fresh off his rest. I spent a while on the Red Sox website and Precise Seating picking a seat that wasn't outrageously priced and yet, close enough to enjoy watching pitching from. So imagine my frustration when I found out on Saturday that Josh was not coming off the DL and that I would be seeing Wakefield again (nothing against Wakefield but he's not Josh Beckett). I will not get to watch him warm up in the bullpen before the game, and I have a more-than-I-would-have-paid-for-to-see-Wakefield-pitch ticket. Josh is just as frustrated as I am as evidenced by his comments in this article on WEEI. The worst part is that there seems to be no timetable at this point.

Of course, a Red Sox game is a Red Sox game and I am quite excited to go on Thursday despite the absence of Beckett's pitching. This will be my 3rd Wakefield game this season and, as I'm sure you know, I haven't seen him get a win yet (although I did see his 2000th strikeout). So I'll be rooting hard for Wakefield on Thursday but wearing a Beckett shirt.

Tim Wakefield & His Handy, Dandy Knuckleball

Tonight at the Red Sox' first away game of the season we get Tim Wakefield taking on the Kansas City Royals. Should be a walk in the park, right? It could be or maybe not. I always feel when Wakey takes the mound that you can never be quite sure what will come out of him. That knuckleball can be a fickle thing. Sometimes it flutters beautifully and other times it's just a dud. At the very least we know we will be spared the sight of Wakefield hobbling around on the mound with his back pain flaring up, like we did at the end of last season. Wakefield had a lovely Spring Training so let's hope that it continues that way. Because if he does poorly tonight you can just bet that fans will be yelling for Dice-K's return from the DL and telling us that Wakey's best days are behind him.

Josh Beckett is Pitching on Opening Night? I Never Would Have Guessed!

I was hesitant to write a blog post with yet another picture of Josh Beckett gracing it but given the news that Josh is going to be the Red Sox Opening Night pitcher I just had to.

Yes, Tito announced today that Josh would get the nod on Opening Night which was rather anticlimactic after he accidentally spilled the beans at a press conference yesterday. The real news today was the back end of the rotation and what was going to happen there. As expected, Lester will follow Beckett on April 6th and Lackey on April 7th against the Yankees. Then it gets interesting with Wakefield on April 9th against the Royals, back to Beckett again on the 10th, and finally Buchholz gets a turn on the 11th. Tito's reasoning is that Beckett would pitch his second game on 6 days rest instead of 7, which could be detrimental to him. I'm wondering about Buchholz though. He's going to go a long while without pitching in a real game. And of course, who knows what will happen when and if Dice-K finally is ready to enter the rotation.

Wakefield has already proven during Spring Training that he is up to the task despite what many thought over the winter. Buchholz on the other hand has been maddeningly inconsistent, showing shades of what got him sent down to the minors last year. I'm hoping that Clay can get back in a groove and show us that he can be the pitcher we always thought he was capable of.

In other Red Sox news today, Mike Lowell fouled a ball off his knee resulting in a contusion. Just another incident in a string of bad luck that seems to have been following Mikey around since last year.

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays today 3-2 with Lester going 6 innings with 6 hits and 2 unearned runs. John Lackey pitches tomorrow against the Orioles and old timer Alan Embree is expected to pitch in relief.

And I promise my next post will not include a Beckett picture and perhaps I will even discuss hitting. Or fielding. Or something not to do with pitching.