Josh Beckett's Back Is A Little Better, But Japan Trip Is Doubtful At Best

The news out of Florida was a little better about Josh Baseball Beckett's back. He had a horrible day on Monday but Tuesday was an improvement. He is nowhere close to even be able to do any stretching excercises, much less throw the ball. But the Sox are being cautious, as they should be. Said Tito Francona (quote taken from the Boston Globe)...

"I don't know that we would want to eliminate it (the trip to Japan) today because we don't have to," manager Terry Francona said. "The one thing we're not going to do is send him over there to pitch three innings and hurt his back. Just like everything, it depends on how they're doing health-wise. He actually is having a pretty good day today.
"We just want him to be healthy for the long haul. Last year when he had that avulsion, we didn't run him out there when we probably could have because we didn't think it made sense. So in something like this, we'll do the same thing. We'll use good judgment. It's not always easy to use good judgment, but that's the right thing to do."

Peter here, and the Sox HAVE been using good judgement and are handling Josh just like the ace of the team that he is. And that's a good thing.

Yesterday the Red Sox and the Mets tangled again, and this time there WAS no tie. The good guys prevailed by a score of 4-3. Wakefield was good enough, Paps was better, relying on his new pitch, the slider, more often than at any other time, and Little Manny was just great. We're going to need him as part of the three man bridge to Papelbon. He and Oki and Timlin seem to be the ones who will make up that bridge. Here is the Red Sox pitching line. I think you'll be happy...

IP H R ER BB SO
Wakefield (W) 4 5 2 2 3 0 0
J Papelbon 2 0 0 0 0 2 0
M Delcarmen 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
D Kolb (S,1) 1 2 1 1 1 1 0

So we're OK, and as soon as Josh and his back are fully functional, we'll be back at full (without Schill) strength. I want to thank reader Red Sox.NJDevils for her yesterday comment. She always successfully finds a classic one thing or another to bring to my attention, even though sometimes I've already seen it. Thanks Brittany. And thanks go out to ALL my Constant Readers for their persistance and unwavering loyalty. I owe you. Every one of you. BIGTIME. Click on the title of this post for the entire Boston Globe article about our Boston Red Sox ace, Josh Beckett. And as always, be well. FOREVER. That's what I wish for you.