A starting problem

While it’s encouraging that Lester threw with no pain yesterday, and the Red Sox don’t deem Beckett’s injury to be serious, there nonetheless has to be concern. If Beckett, like manager Terry Francona admitted yesterday, has been suffering in this condition for some time, perhaps that helps explain his August-September metamorphosis into John Dopson.

The fact that the spasms got bad enough for him to be scratched from a potential wild card-clinching game isn’t good news for a guy that will be expected to start a playoff game some time late next week. As for Lester, he remains on track to start Thursday against the Indians after throwing 55 pitches on flat ground during a side session yesterday.

Look, odds are that both guys are fine. The Sox probably dodged an enormous bullet with Lester, and more than likely were being overly cautious with Beckett last night. Still, if you’re ignoring both injuries and still making November World Series plans (odds a game gets postponed due to snow?) you obviously have a short memory. After all, it was just a year ago when Beckett’s oblique (speaking of ambiguous injuries) problem forced him to have the worst postseason showing (7.20 ERA in the ALDS, 9.64 ALCS) of his otherwise brilliant October career. A healthy Beckett, and maybe the Red Sox take Game 2 against the Rays, which would have meant a 2-0 series lead, and an entirely different feel to the series.

So, yeah. To hear that Beckett is suffering back spasms a little more than a week before heading to Anaheim is a little frightful. If his back tightened up merely on the flight from New York on Sunday, how is it going to feel in the air for five hours en route to the Left Coast?

Through mid-August, Beckett’s name was in the Cy Young Award discussion, but then gave up 7, 8, 5, and 4 runs over his next four starts. He went exactly a month (Aug. 12-Sept.12) without wins, but has shown at least a semblance of improvement lately. He even succumbed to hurling to Victor Martinez in lieu of Jason Gedman last week in Kansas City. In that game, he won for just the second time this month, allowing a deceiving 12 seeing-eye hits in the process.

So, just as things might have been getting better, the fear has to be of regression.

Hey, maybe this is all just a way to keep us interested throughout the weekend. The Red Sox may clinch tonight, so instead of giving those tickets away for meaningless games against the Indians, you’ll be more inclined to show up and make sure everything is on track. And your spouse thought maybe you could get a date night on Saturday night before the TV is commandeered with October baseball through the next five weeks. The earliest the World Series can end is Nov. 1. I’d hop on the idiocy of that, but I figure it’s pretty lucid already, no?

Right there is your primary reason for being cautious with Beckett last night. The wild card party can wait. If you need Beckett ready to pitch until possibly Nov. 5, a late-season start against the Blue Jays doesn’t mean squat unless you think the Red Sox will go 0-6 the rest of the way while the Rangers catch fire. (Snide thought, in the unlikely scenario that the Red Sox and Rangers have to face off in a one-game playoff next week, think Francona would still rest his players in anticipation of the postseason?)

But for an increasing section of anxiety-ridden Sox fans, Thursday and Saturday will be significant in at least quelling their frayed nerves as we hurtle toward October. Buchholz takes the hill tonight in what could be the final nail in Boston’s postseason picture. With any luck, he’ll come out unscathed.