Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Needing some rest, Beckett goes to the DL

If you saw Josh Beckett run the bases on Sunday afternoon in Colorado... well then I'm sorry.  That was hard to watch.

But not quite as painful as it was for Beckett himself.

A sore hip was only made worse on a hard slide into third, and as a result, the Dodgers have placed Beckett on the 15-day DL.  In his place, reliever Pedro Baez has been recalled.

As Mark Saxon pointed out on Twitter, this might only cost him one start because of the All-Star break.  Since this isn't considered serious at all, I wouldn't expect him to miss more than the mandatory 15 days.

Of course, there's always the worry that an aging pitcher who's already had his fair share of injuries might be going through a tough stretch again.  From all I've read, I get the feeling that this is more of a timing thing with the All-Star Game coming up, so it's a good chance to sneak in a few extra days of rest.  It makes sense.

One thing his DL trip does take care of is any thought of adding him to the NL squad.  I was pretty disappointed that he was not only not picked, but that there hasn't been a whole lot of talk of adding him.  Considering he has the third best ERA in the NL, along with pitching a no-hitter in hitter friendly Philadelphia, it sure looked to me like he was robbed.

Robbed or not, the important thing is for him to get some time to rest his hip, then be ready for the stretch run.  In the end, missing the All-Star Game will probably be a blessing.

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