Everyone has done it. I wake up multiple times a week, afraid I may have lost an arm. While sleeping, your arm gets caught underneath your body and the circulation gets cut off, you wake up in a daze, move positions and the feeling comes back. You fall back asleep and wake up good as new, although, when this happens to Josh Beckett and he pitches like shit it’s breaking news.

As Red Sox Nation collectively holds our breath, Beckett is not looking like the ace starting pitcher we all came to know and love from the past 2 years. In his last start (2 1/3 innings, 8 runs, 8 hits against Toronto) he felt a tingling feeling in his pinky and ring finger, and Tito had said that had something to do with his location, and we are all hoping the same.

Apparently this tingly feeling had come from Beckett sleeping on his arm the wrong way the night before, yet he told redsox.com writer Ian Browne that it is something he had been dealing with off and on this season but he had no idea what it was, or where it was coming from.

Now with his next start pushed back until Tuesday against the Yankees in New York, the Bronx Bombers are licking their lips hoping Beckett is not right and they can slip back into the playoff picture, as their window is getting more slim while the days pass.

The problem with his feeling seems to be minor, but with multi-million dollar investments, you can never be too cautious. However, with the Red Sox playoff berth far from a sure thing, we can be sure to all be biting our nails as the rest of the season and our starting pitching dilemma transpires.

Buchholz Looking to Right his Pitching Wrong

It is no secret that young phenom Clay Buchholz is not having the year that everyone expect. It is not his fault, however, that he is not living up to the hype given off of last year’s no-no in his second major league start. It’s tough to forget such a milestone for fans like us. But the season can still be saved for Buchholz.

Pitching coach John Farrell and Clay have seemed to find a flaw in the young guy’s mechanics which may be causing his pitches to drift over the plate and contributed to his 6.35 ERA and 90 hits in 73 and 2/3 innings, including 11 home runs over that time.

Texas Gal over in Center Field turned us on to the idea that Buchholz has been “drifting” in delivery, as show through the PitchFX diagrams in her post. Hopefully with this new light bulb over Clay’s head he will return to his form and help the Sox finished the sweep over the Orioles, more for the kid’s confidence than the team.

Wakefield Plays a Little Toss

After spending 10 days on the DL, Tim Wakefield has got the ball back in his hand and played catch with pitching coach John Farrell for the first time since going on the disabled list with tightness in the back of his right shoulder. The Sawx are hoping after a few more side sessions Wake will be ready to take back to the mound.

Colon to Pitch for Pawtucket this Week

After leaving his third rehab start for the PawSox after one inning with a case of the stomach bug, Bartolo Colon will continue his trail back to Fenway this week against Syracuse Chiefs. David Pauley is listed as the probable starter for tonight on the PawSox website, but Colon could end up getting the start.

This was Bartolo Colon’s big time to shine, a time to show the world what he can do at the plate, an opportunity to transfer his 245lbs frame(that’s what he’s listed as…I’ll take the over) into a home run hitting machine. At least that’s what Colon was out to try to do last night but failed miserably. Maybe he was trying to make up for his lackluster performance on the mound which included 4 earned runs and 2 walks in 4 innings of work. In any case he swung so hard it seemed like he was trying to send the ball to his native Altamira, Dominican Republic.

Sorry Altamira, your boy couldn’t pull it off. Colon took such violent swing at a Cole Hamels change up last night that his helmet fell off. It gave the Red Sox dugout quite a good laugh. It reminded me of the mid 90’s when we’d see Mo Vaughn pull it off on a consistent basis(he also fell down on swings a lot). It’s funny to see big guys like Vaughn, Colon, and David Ortiz swing so hard they end up embarrassing themselves on the national stage. But when violent swings lead to injury it’s not so funny anymore.

Bartolo was unable to come out for the fifth inning due to a stiff back, which he said he injured on that very swing. And although Colon said he didn’t expect to miss a start, you have to wonder how this big man’s body is holding up after recent arm issues and now the stiff back. What Bartolo needs to realize is he’s an AL pitcher not a hitter of any sorts. Either way, you got to give him a little credit for trying……but Bartolo, stick to your day job.

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