Josh Beckett Preparing To Return From Disabled List On Friday

It’s been a long, agonizing road back for Josh Beckett, but at last, the end is in sight:

As an added bonus, Beckett’s first game back in the bigs will come against a minor league rehab-level opponent. Big news for Boston, which needs to start getting healthy in a hurry.

Josh Beckett just keeps on getting delayed. What was supposed to be a minor injury became a DL stint. What was supposed to be a minor DL stint because a more significant DL stint. And now we have this:

Beckett last pitched for the Red Sox on May 18th. Without him, the team has struggled to get consistent starts from anyone other than Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz.

Josh Beckett has been on the DL since May 19th with a lower back strain. Lest anyone think he’s going to come off tomorrow, though, think again:

Beckett, it seems, has had inconsistent mechanics in his bullpen sessions, so the Red Sox are going to take it easier on him and let him heal up completely before they move him along. If they allowed him to keep throwing with inconsistent mechanics now, not only would it risk further injury, but it would also reinforce the wrong delivery, which can be difficult to undo.

Tuesday night, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett had to come out with what was described as “tightness in his lower back.” Said tightness is apparently now sufficiently significant to force him to the sidelines:

It’s an unfortunate situation for Boston, but it may not be a terrible one, as the team already has five other capable starters and Beckett has had trouble finding a groove. Beckett followed a rough April by allowing 16 runs in 17 innings in May, and though he’s certainly a good deal better than his numbers, it’s not the worst idea in the world to give him a break to get both physically and mentally better.