Beckett: Texas danger?

Josh Beckett has not pitched since his 2 1/3-inning, 8-run implosion against Toronto Aug. 17, and Tony Mazz writes this might be a good thing. Beckett’s hiatus will end tonight with a closely monitored start against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, during which Beckett will throw between 55-60 pitches, per Mazz’s column.

(While I trust you all have read Mazz’s first Globe column this morning, hopefully Beckett avoided it. Terry Francona said this week Beckett asked him not to tell him what his pitch count would, so as to affect his competitive mindset once he nears the appointed number.)

Mazz says to “set your expectations low” for the start because of the small pitch count. Does the opponent dictate a lowering of the bar, too? In Beckett's career, the Rangers have batted .293 against him, surpassed only by the Milwaukee Brewers (.338) and Minnesota Twins (.316). Compare that to Beckett's career .242 batting average against.

That .293 is a largely superfluous statistic because it tells more about how Beckett pitches against laundry than against players. So then: The eight current Rangers with experience against Beckett (Hank Blalock, Milton Bradley, Marlon Byrd, Frank Catalanotto, Ian Kinsler, Gerald Laird, Ramon Vazquez and Michael Young) are batting a collective .269 (18 for 67) with a .372 on-base percentage in their careers against him. Beckett has struck out those eight hitters 18 times in a combined 78 career plate appearances while allowing 11 walks.

Other tidbits and notables:

* Fading MVP candidate and RBI machine Josh Hamilton (.301-31-121) has never faced Beckett.

* No current Ranger has hit a home run against Beckett.

* The most dangerous hitter against Beckett with any appreciable experience is Bradley. In 17 career plate appearances, he is 4 for 13 with three walks, two doubles, and two strikeouts, good for a .900 OPS.

* Beckett lone start at The Ballpark at Arlington came during his Red Sox debut April 5, 2006. He allowed one run in seven innings on seven hits, earning the victory in Boston's 2-1 win. Counting his work against the Houston Astros in Minute Maid Park, the native of Spring, Texas, has allowed seven earned runs in 26 1/3 innings inside his home state.