The Overly-Curious UnDoctor Is In! This week's subject: Josh Beckett With the constant stream of bumps, bruises, owies and ouchies that the Red Sox encounter, it can all get a bit confusing for us non-medical types. What's just a minor scrape that's nothing to worry about? And what's a severe four-alarm injury that warrants a true freakout?
That's where our resident health professional, mhcranberry, MPH, is here to help. She'll be stopping by on occasion to give you all the nitty gritty on the Sox DL. We thought we'd just be having to deal with the J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell ouchies in the playoffs... but we were wrong. Turns out Josh Beckett is fighting injury as well. Oh shit. Please, Overly-Curious UnDoctor, tame our fears about Beckett's strained oblique! Follow me after the jump for all the questions you have but were afraid to ask...

First, everyone, a word on the postseason, and this I actually am qualified to speak on as an MPH: a combination of anxiety, sleep deprivation, and alcohol will lead to very very bad things. Each of these items contributes to the other two, and so October's late games (like those in LA) can cause trouble that won't go away very easily. Get enough sleep, meditate between games or whatever you do to calm down your brain, get enough exercise, eat well, don't drink too much, and all of that. Take care of yourselves, because watching the games from a haze of Nyquil or from within the constraints of a padded cell detracts from the fun. And from experience (think 2004 playoffs) the damage you can do to yourself health-wise can take you months to recover from.

Now, on to the topic on everyone's minds: Beckett's oblique. I know, I know. Sounds brutal. Kept Manny on the bench constantly, and wasn't that the thing that put Lowell on the bench in the first place? Well, yes. But let's recall that Lowell's problem was primarily his hip and this can aggravate an oblique injury (the two are connected). And Manny... the less said about Manny, the better. Touchy subject.

Oblique strains seem to be newly epidemic to baseball; in truth, they have always been there but traditionally have been called "rib cage muscle strains" or "abdominal strains", neither of which are inaccurate but are less specific than the current terminology.

So-- will Beckett be out for the postseason? My guess is no. In fact, I'm not even sure he has an oblique strain.

Hear me out. I'm not saying that he isn't injured. But an oblique strain specifically means that the muscle has incurred damage, like a tear. That isn't what Beckett felt. Here's the account from Tito:

I think it was his right side. It was on his 40th pitch [of his side session Friday]. Because it was raining and things like that, he was almost done. I don't think it actually was something where he just threw it and grabbed it. It was almost in between pitchers, where he took a deep breath and, 'Man, I feel something.' He went and got treatment. They've been working on him. Initially, when you hear something like that, you're kind of like, 'Damn.' [A team doctor] came in and goes, 'Hey, relax. We'll be alright.' So that was kind of reassuring.

So he felt it grab, took a deep breath and "felt something" in wet pitching conditions and the doctor says everything is gonna be fine.

And according to the ProJo:

Beckett, as to be expected, was nowhere to be found after Francona spoke (though he did text WEEI.com's Rob Bradford with the news that the injury was "a freak deal" and that he felt better Sunday than he had Friday and Saturday).

See, to me, that doesn't read PANIC PANIC PANIC all over it. To me, that says, Josh Beckett felt something twinge in his side and freaked the fuck out because he feels a lot of pressure in the postseason and has been injured a lot this year including several weeks of being convinced he was going to need Tommy John surgery and is waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm not saying he's a wimp (though it is fun to say, should you wish to trigger a TexasGal-sized tornado of indignation) or that he's faking. I'm saying he was psychologically primed for an injury, so when he felt something, everything felt worse.

Or maybe he has Munchausen's Syndrome.

Regardless, my suspicion is that given that he's penciled in for Game 3 with some degree of confidence and that they expect him to throw a side on Thursday, he had a little muscle spasm or pulled muscle in his oblique. And injuries in this area can feel much more severe than they actually are, given their heavy use.

In any case, I'm not worrying yet, not until I get more information to make me think otherwise.

Can I add that the cynical side of me thinks that maybe they want to put Lester and Dice-K in games one and two because they want Lester available in games later in the series? Just... maybe?

Now, J.D. Drew. Looked okay yesterday. Speaking of being psychologically primed for injury... Drew's a case study. Knowing that he has a history of back injuries and knowing (not personally, mind you) the excruciating pain that a herniated disc can cause, I really feel for the guy, and I also am guessing that he is quite averse to re-injury. I'm more worried that he'll hold back out of fear than that he won't play. Baby steps, big guy, and don't be afraid to get caught up in the spirit and let loose with the bat. But don't hurt yourself again either... because I'm not sure I could deal with watching Kotsay too much more.

Lowell. I really can't say. Recovery from that kind of injury is long and hard. I think progress is actually being made, although you and I can't see it (in fact, we see him backsliding, if anything). I think he'll play in the post-season... I'm just not going to place any bets on his contribution. He will be back though. This isn't it for him, I promise.

Lugo? Ha. You gotta be kidding me. Who would have thought a quadricep tear would be a career-ending injury?