Beckett Will Miss Next Start; Buchholz Eyes Playoff Return

Josh Beckett will not make his next start. Kyle Weiland will get the ball on Saturday evening against the Raysngers.

Red Sox medical director Dr. Tom Gill:

Josh was evaluated today at the Massachusetts General Hospital by the Red Sox medical staff, including team foot and ankle specialist, Dr. George Theodore. Josh experienced pain in his ankle while pitching last night. His examination was consistent with an ankle sprain. An MRI was performed that confirmed no other injury to his ankle tendons, or his Achilles tendon. We will re-evaluate his symptoms and availability later this week.

Terry Francona agreed that the report was as good as anyone could have hoped:

It's consistent with a sprain and there's nothing else going on, so I would say, yeah. ... We just need to get him [healthy].

Clay Buchholz has begun a throwing program and he threw 50 pitches at 90 feet yesterday in Toronto. He still has no clear date on when he could throw off a mound and he implied that if he returns this season, it probably wouldn't be until the playoffs.

There's definitely no timeline. If everything goes right ... I'm not sure the end of the season is going to be the right number. If we do what we want to do in the postseason, get there and play well, that's what I'm really hoping for.

Depending on his progress, it's possible that Buchholz could pitch out of the bullpen in October.

BRef Blog: "David Ortiz is having the best season in history by a 35+ year old DH". ("Ever", in this case, means since 1973.) AL Rankings: 5th in AVG, 4th in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 3rd in Adjusted OPS, 10th in total bases, 10th in doubles, 5th in home runs, 8th in RBI. However, Ortiz is not in the Top 10 in either WAR or WPA. Check out his stat line: 66 walks and only 70 strikeouts. ... He struck out 145 times last year.