Josh Beckett wasn’t great last night but he wasn’t bad either. The 2nd inning contained all 4 of his ER and after that he settled down to make it through 6 IP, giving up 8 H, 1 BB and striking out 3 batters. A lot of Beckett’s starts seem to be that way this year when he has a rough outing; he gives up all his ER in bunches in one bad inning. His control really hasn’t been that bad, he’s just losing focus here and there. Before Tuesday, Beckett had three straight QS with 24 K in 19 IP and just 5 ER on 18 H and 3 BB (all the BB came in one game). I’m not worried about Beckett. He seems healthy and I think his problem is more bouts of inconsistency and, intermittently, the inability to focus through an entire start. I expect Beckett to drop under the 4.00 ERA mark but I think the All Star break is the kind of mental break he needs from the grind of the season since none of his problems seem to be physical.
Victor Martinez is having a stunningly bad year for the Indians. I am truly in shock by how badly he has done thus far this season. His numbers right now are .279 with no homers, 21 RBI and 19 R. He only has 11 2B, his BHIP is actually ABOVE his average, and every single indicator is off of his career mark. In addition, his GB/FB rate is 50 points higher in the GB direction than 2007 and his IFFB% is up by 10 points to 15.7 from 5.8. His BB/K is also down from last season and it has regressed the last couple of years. With Martinez being just 30 years of age and the Indians playing him at 1B as well as catcher, I’m astounded he’s producing this poorly. Hopefully this is just a bad year for Victor but right now he’s certainly not doing what many owners expected.
Vlad Guerrero had knee problems and a pretty bad slump to worry about a week ago but hopefully he has truly broken out this time around. Vlad went 4-4 on Monday and then followed it up with a 2-4 performance last night with a HR and 2 RBI. It’s a small sample but Vlad is 7-13 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 4 runs in the last three games. Mike Scioscia has been good about giving his all star OF some breaks as of late to rest his ailing knee and the rest seems to be paying off. We have seen some outbursts after slumps from Vlad this season already but hopefully this time the breakout will get his numbers back to what we’re used to from him.
Dustin McGowan was another complete game winner last night as he allowed just 1 ER on 5 H while walking 2 and striking out 7. McGowan is a guy we have talked a lot about this year, mainly due to our surprise at his control problems in his shaky starts. McGowan has shelved those concerns recently and certainly went a step further last night in his dominant performance. He hasn’t walked more than 2 batters in his last four starts and is 3-0 in those last four appearances. For those of you who didn’t give up on McGowan when we suggested patience - congratulations.
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