beckett still a risk?

[warrick95]

Yo, I already had Beckett on Sheets' level BEFORE he started off hot. That is, IF he stays healthy...I was confident enough in Beckett to place a Cafe bet that he'll have a lower ERA than Sheets (of course, one plus for me is that that doesn't take DL time into consideration). Anyway, there's no question in my mind that Beckett can outperform Sheets if he stays healthy. However, even though the risk is probably slightly less because there has been no word on the blister front thus far, it'd take more than a few weeks for me to believe that the blisters are gone for good. It'd likely take all of this year and probably all of next to convince me that he's turend the page. That being said, Al Leiter did have these problems early on, so there's speculation that he's helped Beckett with keeping them away.

Beckett has tried countless things for his blisters, though. There was word that he was soaking his hands, applying cream, etc. last year and look at what happened. He's more of an injury risk than players like Sheets, but I wouldn't deal him either.

[asterisk]

Beckett has tried countless things for his blisters, though. There was word that he was soaking his hands, applying cream, etc.

Maybe he can take a page out of Moises Alou's training manual for strengthening skin on the hands.

[davidmarver]

Blisters are a real quirky injury, but with that said I think Beckett is not that great of a risk this season for one big reason. The acquisition of Al Leiter. Leiter dealt with blisters early in his career. Having a veteran on the staff who has experienced the same injuries he has certainly cannot hurt. I like Beckett to post a sub 3.50 ERA, strikeout 175+ and finally win at least 10 games. It's about time too. He's in his third year on my keeper league team (last year) and it's about time I get rewarded for the patience.