May 3rd, 2013 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Major league managers and general managers never like to admit when one (or more) of their players are struggling, and understandably so. The last thing they want to do is to add to the problem by affecting that player’s confidence. But when the problems persist, they begin to compound themselves, which is exactly what is happening with Dodger right-hander Josh Beckett.
After Wednesday night’s 7-3 loss to the Rockies, Dodger manager Don Mattingly could no longer deny that his 32-year-old former two-time World Champion is struggling.
“From the standpoint of being 0 for the start of the season… it starts to creep on you,” said Mattingly. “It’s one outing then another outing and it get’s to be a little bit of a hole and you start thinking about trying to climb out of that. It’s not going to be one start and you’re back to .500, you’re going to have to pitch good for a while.
“It seems like most of the other (Beckett starts) we were in the game and he kind of kept us in the games. Tonight it seemed like he was off all night,” added Mattingly. “It didn’t seem like his location was quite as good as it’s been, he wasn’t throwing many strikes and nothing really seemed to go his way… he didn’t seem to have an easy inning out there, it was a battle there tonight for him.”
Several time during Wednesday night’s game Beckett was visibly angry with himself – which only added to his problems. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Beckett lasted only 4 innings giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. On the season Beckett is now 0-4 with an ERA of 5.24, worst among all Dodger pitchers with more than two starts. He has also given up 8 home runs – twice as many as any other Dodger starter.
Asked why Beckett was working so slow and deliberate in Wednesday night’s game (which lasted an excruciating 3 hours and 54 minutes), Mattingly said that Beckett seems to slow down when things aren’t going good. Even Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully commented on how much time Beckett was taking between pitches, something that Scully rarely does.
With Zack Greinke still a month (or more) away from returning to the Dodger rotation and with Chad Billingsley lost for the season, the Dodgers have little choice but to keep Beckett in the starting rotation. And though top pitching prospect Zach Lee is doing well at Double-A Chattanooga (2-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 6 starts), it is unlikely that the Dodgers will bring up the 21-year-old right-hander anytime soon. And even if they did, what do you do with Beckett and the $31.5 million still owed to him over the next two seasons? There isn’t a team out there that would be willing to take on that kind of salary for an 0-4 (thus far) 32-year-old pitcher.
Hopefully Beckett can turn things around and soon, or the Dodgers may soon find themselves in that same hole with their struggling right-hander.
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RT @Think_BlueLA: New post – Mattingly acknowledges concern over Josh Beckett
RT @Think_BlueLA: New post – Mattingly acknowledges concern over Josh Beckett
@Think_BlueLA Do ya think?
With any run support, Josh Beckett could have arguably been 3-0 to start the season. Thursday’s game was definitely his worst outing, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t pitch well enough to have won those early games. His first two games were gems. Now we’re back to that attitude thing. The pitching staff has had way too much pressure put on them to pitch multiple scoreless innnings. It’s not realistic…
The offense needs to wake up and with it will come a more relaxed rotation.
There is no disputing that lack of run support is the single-most reason why the Dodgers are a sub .500 team – especially when you consider that they are among the league leaders in both batting average and OBP. However, when one of your starting pitchers is averaging almost two home runs per game, there is a problem with that pitcher.
If you watched Beckett pitch on Wednesday night, you noticed that he was a wreck. He was unable to get first-pitch strikes, which put him behind to nearly every batter he faced, thus forcing him to lay it in there. When you do this with the team with the best average, most home runs, most runs scored, etc., you’re going to get torched.
I agree that at times Beckett was stellar in his earlier starts, but he almost always lays a meatball in there at the worst possible time and major league baseball players do not miss meatballs.
When your offense gets you back in a game and you give it right back, there is a problem, and Josh Beckett has a problem. I simply do not see how he can or will get to .500 when he is already at 0-4 after six starts – but hey, stranger things have happened.
Now, where did I put those rose-colored glasses.
Not rose-colored; most certainly Dodger blue-colored!
I have been disappointed with Beckett’s overall start. I felt for sure he would pick up where he left off last season with the Dodgers. He has had a slow decline since his 2011 season.
What is most confusing is that he still hits 93 and 94 with his fastball but seems to have lost the great control he once had. He’ll be rolling along and then leave one up and over and opposing hitters are not missing these mistake pitches.
If his velocity were down, I would suspect an injury, but he can still bring it.
Some tough decisions lie ahead for the Dodgers with Josh if he doesn’t show signs of improvement.