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Could Josh Beckett's pregame routine be causing 1st-inning trouble?

About that 10.69 ERA in the first inning for Josh Beckett: Could it be that the veteran right-hander's problems begin even before he takes the mound?

"Josh warms up earlier than anybody in the history of baseball, I think," Bobby Valentine said before the Red Sox faced the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Fenway Park. "Should he warm up later? Maybe. But this is a dog that is hard to teach a new trick to. He's been very successful warming up as early as he warms up. But I've never had anybody have the break he has between the time he warms up and the time he goes out there."

It's typical for Beckett to be throwing off a mound in the bullpen even before the opposing pitcher begins playing catch in the outfield, a routine he has followed for most of his career. But in 16 starts, he has allowed 19 first-inning runs, more than the aggregate total he has allowed in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Pitching coach Bob McClure said he intends to talk to Beckett about altering his pregame routine, although Beckett is notoriously set in his ways.

"There's some things that, I don't know if he'd be open to it, but I wouldn't mind seeing what he thought," McClure said. "He might not do it and not give up a run in the first inning for the rest of the year. I don't know. I can't even answer that questions as to why that is. It's just one of those unfortunate things. Josh has probably been doing it the same way for 11 years or so now."

Said Valentine, "I don't now that changing the habit is going to do anything other than give an answer to the question: 'Is he doing anything different?' Oh yeah, he's doing something different. Big deal. That means all of a sudden something is going to change? I was confident he was going to go out (Friday night) and put up a zero. I'm confident next time he goes out there, he's going to put up a zero."

(Twitter: @ScottLauber)


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