FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett is feeling better less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with a mild concussion after he was stuck in the head by a baseball during batting practice Monday afternoon at City of Palms Park.
"I just got checked and I'm definitely feeling better today than I did yesterday," Beckett said this morning. "That's encouraging, but I don't know where we go from here. I feel better today. I feel like I got hit in the head. Getting rid of the headaches I had yesterday is probably good.
"Yesterday was nerve-racking because going up and down stairs was pretty tough."
Beckett was scheduled to throw a light side session Tuesday, but the Red Sox are not allowing him to do any physical activity, and they don't even want him watching television. Beckett said there is some swelling and he will be re-evaluated again on Wednesday before a decision is made whether or not he'll make his scheduled start on Thursday. The Red Sox have already made other plans just in case Beckett is not well enough to throw.
"He's improved today, but he won't have any activity," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He'll be evaluated again tomorrow and we'll see where that leads him. In regards to his start, we'll do what's in his best interest. If he can start, good, and if he can't we can either push him back or have him throw a side.
"The first thing is to make sure he can do his activities and it doesn't set him backwards. But there's a lot of improvement and his eyes look real clear. He'll be OK."
Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young was going over the team's pitching in case Beckett can't pitch on Thursday.
"Obviously, we've got a ton of pitching and [Young] is writing it in like [Beckett] is not pitching, just to make sure we're all set," Francona said. "We have plenty of pitching. I don't know who would be the starter, but we'll figure it out."
If Beckett misses his start, the right-hander believes it won't be long before he's able to get back on the mound during a game.
"If I have to miss Thursday, I don't think it'll be next Wednesday when I pitch," he said. "It'll definitely be before that. If they push me back, they push me back."
Beckett was standing in shallow left-center field on Monday when Sox staffer and batting practice pitcher Ino Guerrero was attempting to hit a shagged ball back into the infield with a fungo bat when it hit Beckett behind the temple on the left side of his head.
Beckett became dizzy and dropped to one knee.
"You go through a bunch of different emotions," Beckett explained. "At first you're pissed because you don't know what happened. Then I tried to walk but I got real dizzy so I took a knee. I really didn't know what happened. I didn't know if I got hit by a ball from another field, or what. I didn't know what happened."
Beckett said he didn't have any trouble sleeping Monday night, which is a good sign.
"Actually, I went straight to sleep. That was one of the questions they asked me this morning," he said. "I was tired all day. After that happened, I was physically drained, but I went to sleep around 9:30."
His wife woke him up once to check on him before he fell back asleep for the rest of the night.
"I didn't have any problems," he said.
Beckett said he understands why Guerrero feels bad about the incident.
"He feels terrible," Beckett said. "At first I was pissed, but I know he didn't do it on purpose. It's one of the deals. Was it stupid? Yes. It was stupid and I think he realizes that now. There's no sense making him feel worse than he already does.
"Maybe this will get all the pitchers out of shagging from now on."
Beckett admitted this is his second concussion. The first occurred as a result of a fight when he was younger.
Francona has suffered four concussions from the time he was in high school through his big league career.
"Those things happen," Francona said of Monday's incident. "It was just a freak accident. You don't want to see it happen a lot, and Ino feels terrible."
Joe McDonald is a reporter for ESPNBoston.com.
Follow Joe McDonald on Twitter: @espnJoeyMac
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=6170271&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
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