No Discounting Varitek's Value

August 19, 2009 | Boston Herald | By John Tomase



The Red Sox captain was a late scratch last night, forcing Victor Martinez to move behind the plate to catch Beckett for the first time. The two had never so much as thrown a side session together, and it showed.


Martinez hastily huddled with Varitek before the game, and then did the same with Beckett, but it’s unfair to expect any catcher to walk right in and know how Beckett ticks. The staff ace has spoken in the past about how the get-to-know-you process with Varitek took much of his first season here in 2006. And as he told WEEI.com last week, he doesn’t spend a ton of time reading scouting reports, instead putting himself in the best position possible physically to have every pitch at his disposal, while relying on his backstop to know the ins and outs of opposing tendencies.


All of that said, Beckett was not about to pin last night’s miserable outing (5.1 IP, 7 ER) on Martinez.


“Vick did a great job. My stuff didn’t equal what he was doing,” said Beckett, who noted that Martinez caught Cy Young Award winners C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee in Cleveland, “so he must be doing something right.”


Still, the numbers are hard to ignore. Beckett is 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA when Varitek is his catcher. When someone else catches him, Beckett is 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA. Consider the following three games.


April 30: Rays 13, Red Sox 0

With George Kottaras catching, Beckett allows 10 hits and seven runs in 4.2 innings.


June 14: Phillies 11, Red Sox 6

With a day game following a brutally long night game, Varitek gets a day off in favor of Kottaras. Beckett allows seven runs (6 earned) in six innings and takes the loss.


Aug. 18: Red Sox 10, Blue Jays 9

Beckett admitted he had nothing last night and the Jays teed off on him for three home runs and the seven runs.

For those keeping track, that’s 16 IP and 30 hits allowed, including five home runs. In 146.1 innings with Varitek, Beckett has allowed just 10 homers.


After last night’s game, manager Terry Francona noted that Beckett is a creature of habit, and the absence of both Varitek and pitching coach John Farrell (family issue) disrupted his routine. Beckett is never going to pin the blame on anyone but himself when he pitches poorly, but last night made it pretty clear that Varitek is a partner in his success.