Josh Beckett

[boot man]

Good pitchers give up a lot of HRs becuas ethey have the stones to challenge hitters. Take a look at the list for most HRs given up.
Robin Roberts 505
Ferguson Jenkins 484
Phil Niekro 482
Don Sutton 473
Frank Tanana 448
Warren Spahn 434
Bert Blyleven 430
Steve Carlton 414
Gaylord Perry 399

When Becket's good he is very good, when he's bad he's really bad. But he's not a bad #2 starter.

[Bigcat]

Nice list with quite a few hall of famers on it,you can't put Beckett in their league.
Beckett has averaged only 6 innings and a 5.12 ERA for 19 starts that is not that great. the guy is lucky he has a great defence behind him and most of the homers were solo shots or it would be ugly.
A lot of guys can throw hard ,you got to be able to pitch.
I hope he can put a nice string of wins together.

[Squid kids Dad]

Again he has won 11 games so far this year..Not to shabby in my book for 1/2 a year..His last outing sucked yes...I am sure he will he rebound

[afterhours]

he's only 25 and has great tools, some pitchers don't get it 'till they reach 30. he'll be a damned good one imo.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Bigcat

the guy is lucky he has a great defence behind him and most of the homers were solo shots or it would be ugly.
A lot of guys can throw hard ,you got to be able to pitch.

I would humbly suggest that luck has nothing to do with most of his gophers being solo shots. Most good pitchers approach a batter differently with the bases empty--they tend to challenge hitters more. That's a sign he has the ability to learn to pitch