Updated 00:53, September the 30th, 2008
Beckett still a question mark
Status of Red Sox ace remains up in the air
Sox third baseman Mike Lowell had a pretty candid reaction when he first heard the news that Josh Beckett wouldn’t be starting Game 1 of the American League Division Series due to a right oblique injury.
“Oh, [expletive],” said the Sox third baseman, who has his own health questions to answer before the playoffs begin tomorrow. “Obviously, Josh is such a proven postseason pitcher that you’d want him as many times as possible, but we also want him healthy and able to compete at the level that he’s used to.
“Jonny [Lester] was scheduled to pitch two of the five games anyways and we still have that, so I really only look at this as a difference in one game.”
As Lowell alluded to after letting the news sink in, Lester has been the Sox ace this season and heads into tomorrow night’s postseason start on the heels of a 16-win breakthrough season. Daisuke Matsuzaka was undefeated in 13 road starts this year while limiting hitters to a microscopic .187 batting average during those outings. Matsuzaka will look to further his road success when he gets the ball in Game 2 in Anaheim.
Sox manager Terry Francona indicated that Beckett was feeling better yesterday afternoon, and a Thursday side session will go a long way toward ensuring the 28-year-old’s availability to start Game 3 Sunday at Fenway.
Obviously, the team will miss the Texas-sized presence of Beckett and the 6-2 record and 1.73 ERA he’s stacked up during a colorful postseason career, but his teammates are pretty confident in the two hurlers that combined to pile up 34 W’s this season.
The unified team confidence spreads over to the other injuries nagging at the Sox as both Lowell (partially torn right hip labrum) and J.D. Drew (stiff lower back) are considered iffy health questions until proven otherwise.
“We have to answer some [playoff roster] questions,” said Francona. “We do have some [options]. Theo obtained [Mark] Kotsay and [Kevin] Youkilis being able to go to third. We’ve been able to win 95 games without everybody being healthy, so we’ll continue to compete no matter what happens.”
