Josh Beckett, no. 19

Birth Date: May 15, 1980 in Spring, TX

Height/Weight: 6'5", 220 lb.

Contract: 3 years for $30 million (through 2009)

Needless to say, Josh Beckett had a massive season last year. He had a win-loss ratio of 20 wins to 7 losses. He threw 200.7 innings, during which he faced 822 batters. He struck out 194 of them and walked only 40 of them. He gave up 189 hits, which resulted in 76 runs (17 of them were home runs.) He threw 3 wild pitches and hit 5 batters with a pitch. All of which resulted in a very good Earned Run Average of 3.27. His Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched was a very good 1.141.

The post season last Fall belonged to Josh Beckett. He pitched in 4 games and he won 4 games. He pitched 30 innings and faced 110 batters. He struck out 35 and walked 2. He gave up 19 hits and 4 runs (1 of which was a home run.) His WHIP was a stellar 0.70 and his ERA was an impressive 1.20.

Defensively, he had 18 put outs and 12 assists. He turned 1 double play. He was, however, charged with 2 errors. His Fielding Percentage (.938) and his Range Factor (1.35) were both below the league average.

He has a fastball that can reach 97 miles per hour, a sinker that sits in the low-mid nineties, and an excellent curveball. He also has an okay change-up and he has worked on a splitter (which he doesn't throw very often.)

If he can keep his hands in good shape (in the past he's had problems with blisters and avulsions-where the skin is torn off) then next season will, hopefully, bring more of the same from Josh Beckett.

And here's the big apology: I may have misjudged him. Sure, he's got a temper, and he's arrogant, and he's prone to bouts of moodiness, and he's not the smartest person you'll ever meet, and he's distant and cold, and I don't think the likes us, and he doesn't seem like he'd be a hell of a lot of fun to hang around with but I think beneath all the bluster, there might be a decent guy.

During pressers it's pretty clear that he would rather be somewhere else, I think that that might be nerves-that he just sucks as a public speaker. And maybe I'm being unduly influenced by the fact that he has been hiding out in Texas since October and the only things I've read about him have been absolutely glowing reviews but I'm thinking that maybe he might be just a little bit shy. And if true, that would be freakin' adorable. I mean, here's this physically mammoth man who has every reason to be confident in himself but he isn't-and it's kind of cute. Hopefully, he shows up to spring training in mid-February and I am disillusioned of this view (so that I can continue to make fun of him without feeling bad about it.)