Lost season for Beckett

Josh Beckett
Courtesy of zimbio.com

Josh Beckett is through with 2013.

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher elected to have season-ending surgery to correct a neck problem -- this after he posted an 0-5 record with a 5.19 ERA in eight starts.

Beckett has had a bad two-year stretch. He was 5-11 with a 5.78 ERA last year before he was traded from Boston to L.A. After arriving in Chavez Ravine, Beckett lowered his ERA to 2.93 but only managed to go 2-3 in seven starts with the Dodgers. Add this year's record to last year's mark in Dodger Blue, and Beckett is 2-8.

How much of Beckett's struggles are related to the pressure around a nerve in his neck is open to debate. He's never been a truly dominant pitcher, even though he has struck out at least 100 batters every season since his first full major league season in 2002. He's posted only one sub-3.00 ERA in his career (2011), and he's had only two seasons where his win-to-loss differential was greater than 10 -- 2007 (20-7 record) and 2009 (17-6 record). He's also had five full seasons where his ERA has been over 4.00. So, he's struggled like this before.

The question for the Dodgers is, what will Beckett be like in 2014? He'll be 34-years old on May 15 of next year, and he'll be coming off a neck surgery which requires 3-5 months of recovery time. There is no guarantee Beckett will be anything more than a .500 pitcher with a 4.00 ERA and 150 strikeouts. Not exactly what you would expect from a pitcher who earns $15.75 million per year.

Then again, I don't think Dodgers fans were expecting Beckett to finish this season with an 0-5 record and a 5.19 ERA.