Post by #1 Jays Fan on Mar 9, 2008 11:34:38 GMT -5
The Boston Red Sox are in a holding pattern with Josh Beckett after the ace left Saturday's spring game without facing a batter when he was bothered by back spasms.
Beckett's back pain began when he landed on a soft spot after his first warmup pitch. He threw five more, then walked off the field before the game even started.
"We'll just have to wait and see how it feels tomorrow" was Beckett's only comment three hours after he called catcher Jason Varitek to the mound following his sixth warmup pitch in Fort Myers, Fla.
Greg Maddux had no such health problems in Surprise, Ariz. After needing only 18 pitches to get six outs in his spring debut Tuesday, the Padres right-hander allowed one run and one hit over three innings in a 9-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
Maddux gave up a leadoff double to Ian Kinsler, who eventually scored on Michael Young's sacrifice fly. He retired eight straight batters until hitting Kinsler with a pitch with two outs in the third inning.
"That was a desert ball," Maddux joked. "A dry spitter."
The 41-year-old Maddux said the baseballs were rubbed up right, but some were just slick.
"Maybe I need to work on my grip a little bit or something the next time out," he said. "I think that's why everything was up a little bit, or, mechanically, I might have been doing something wrong. But the balls were a little on the slick side. They were rubbed up good. Not like they were bad balls. Just slick. I just wasn't sweating enough."
Jarrod Saltalamacchia's comebacker hit Maddux on the lower left leg, but Maddux, who won his record 17th Gold Glove Award last year, recovered and threw him out to end the second.
Maddux said his leg's OK, but he's looking forward to getting out of running drills the next few days.
A split squad of Florida Marlins, with starter Gaby Hernandez pitching three shutout innings, beat Boston 5-2, but the loss might have been worse if Beckett had pitched with the pain and aggravated the injury in a meaningless spring-training game.
"I think everybody holds their collective breath hoping that the severity of this is manageable," pitching coach John Farrell said. "Obviously, missing a start today is short term. But, again, it's too early to speculate when he'd be on the mound next."
Beckett, the only 20-game winner in the majors last year, was examined Saturday and "will be examined thoroughly" again Sunday, said manager Terry Francona, who didn't want to risk letting him pitch.
"If a kid like Beckett ever threw a pitch and hurt his arm because he was favoring his back, we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves," he said. "We wouldn't do that with anybody."
Beckett's lower back had been sore during the past week, something that's not unusual for players in spring training, Francona said, and he seemed fine when he warmed up in the bullpen before taking the mound for the game.
Beckett's back pain began when he landed on a soft spot after his first warmup pitch. He threw five more, then walked off the field before the game even started.
"We'll just have to wait and see how it feels tomorrow" was Beckett's only comment three hours after he called catcher Jason Varitek to the mound following his sixth warmup pitch in Fort Myers, Fla.
Greg Maddux had no such health problems in Surprise, Ariz. After needing only 18 pitches to get six outs in his spring debut Tuesday, the Padres right-hander allowed one run and one hit over three innings in a 9-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
Maddux gave up a leadoff double to Ian Kinsler, who eventually scored on Michael Young's sacrifice fly. He retired eight straight batters until hitting Kinsler with a pitch with two outs in the third inning.
"That was a desert ball," Maddux joked. "A dry spitter."
The 41-year-old Maddux said the baseballs were rubbed up right, but some were just slick.
"Maybe I need to work on my grip a little bit or something the next time out," he said. "I think that's why everything was up a little bit, or, mechanically, I might have been doing something wrong. But the balls were a little on the slick side. They were rubbed up good. Not like they were bad balls. Just slick. I just wasn't sweating enough."
Jarrod Saltalamacchia's comebacker hit Maddux on the lower left leg, but Maddux, who won his record 17th Gold Glove Award last year, recovered and threw him out to end the second.
Maddux said his leg's OK, but he's looking forward to getting out of running drills the next few days.
A split squad of Florida Marlins, with starter Gaby Hernandez pitching three shutout innings, beat Boston 5-2, but the loss might have been worse if Beckett had pitched with the pain and aggravated the injury in a meaningless spring-training game.
"I think everybody holds their collective breath hoping that the severity of this is manageable," pitching coach John Farrell said. "Obviously, missing a start today is short term. But, again, it's too early to speculate when he'd be on the mound next."
Beckett, the only 20-game winner in the majors last year, was examined Saturday and "will be examined thoroughly" again Sunday, said manager Terry Francona, who didn't want to risk letting him pitch.
"If a kid like Beckett ever threw a pitch and hurt his arm because he was favoring his back, we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves," he said. "We wouldn't do that with anybody."
Beckett's lower back had been sore during the past week, something that's not unusual for players in spring training, Francona said, and he seemed fine when he warmed up in the bullpen before taking the mound for the game.
