It took buckets of fried chicken and beer to slow down Josh Beckett last year (5.84 ERA in Sept.), but that didn’t stop him from having a nice comeback from his disastrous 2010 campaign. Beckett will never shake his injury woes, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a reliable fantasy pitcher. He’s reached the 190-inning mark in two of his last three seasons and if you look at his underlying stats he’s been fairly consistent, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at his ERA. His low BABIP limited his strikeout potential last season despite him putting up his best SwStr% (10.5%) since 2004 so owners who invest should expect an uptick in his 22.8 K%.
Best case scenario: David Price (TB)
Similar players: C.J. Wilson (LAA), James Shields (TB), Matt Cain (SF)
Worst case scenario: Max Scherzer (DET)
Strengths
Strikeouts, lineup, increased effectiveness of cutter. The stacked Red Sox lineup will give Beckett plenty of run support and shots at winning games....
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