Injury status improves: Josh Beckett set to return Friday

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Injury status improves: Josh Beckett set to return Friday

By Tony Massarotti | Wednesday, August 27, 2008 | Home - BostonHerald.com | Boston Red Sox

Photo by Matthew West
NEW YORK - Scratched from scheduled outings in Baltimore and Toronto, Josh Beckett [stats] strode to the bullpen at Yankee Stadium yesterday. By the time he emerged, there was at least some improvement in the Red Sox [team stats]’ recent rash of injuries.

For now, the scratching seems to have subsided.

Before last night’s 7-3 Sox win against the New York Yankees, Sox manager Terry Francona announced that Beckett will start Friday against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park [map]. Beckett convinced both himself and Sox officials that he was ready to go during a side session in which he threw 58 pitches with familiar effortlessness.

“(He) did very well. He’s ready to go Friday, and it’s exciting,” Francona said. “Because he’s excited, so are we.”

Added pitching coach John Farrell, who was in the bullpen with Beckett during the workout: “Just the way the ball came out of his hand, you could tell right away.”

Though the Sox are just 12-11 in Beckett’s 23 starts this season, he is of obvious importance to the club entering September. Already in his relatively young career, Beckett has established himself as one of the great big-game pitchers with a 6-2 record and 1.73 ERA in the playoffs. Last year, he was 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts to lead the Sox to the World Series championship.

Currently 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA, Beckett allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 15-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 17. The Sox later revealed Beckett suffered from a tingling or numbness in his pitching hand at various points of the season, a problem Beckett said intensified just before the Toronto game.

In the wake of the news, the Sox scratched Beckett from a scheduled Aug. 23 start at Toronto and last night’s re-scheduled outing against the Yankees. Francona said the Sox will check with Beckett today, as is customary, but left little doubt that Beckett will pitch Friday.

“We always check with everybody but he’s pretty confident he’s ready to go,” Francona said. “He probably could have pitched the other day (Saturday in Toronto).”

The Sox erred on the side of caution with Beckett, a practice they exercise with all pitchers.

Still, given the recent injury to Tim Wakefield [stats] (who returned last night and got the win over the Yankees) and the demotion of Clay Buchholz, an extended absence by Beckett might have proved fatal during the most important stretch of the season.

Francona said Beckett experienced no numbness or tingling either immediately before or after his bullpen session.

“We wouldn’t let him throw a side until he was symptom-free,” said the manager.

Obviously, they weren’t going to let him pitch in a game, either.

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