FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Since the start of spring training, manager Bobby Valentine has placed a special emphasis on having his pitchers do a better job of controlling opponents' running game.
On Saturday, Valentine liked what he saw from Josh Beckett, who, based on recent seasons, could stand some improvement.
Last year, opposing base stealers swiped 31 bases in 35 attempts while Beckett was on the mound. The year before, they were 15-of-16. In fact, since joining the Red Sox in 2006, exactly 100 base stealers have stolen in 120 attempts while Beckett was pitching, a success rate of 83 percent.
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Valentine has stressed the importance of pitchers' changing their looks and times with the ball in order to throw off baserunners' timing. That's a stark contrast to former pitching coach John Farrell, who essentially told his starters to forget about the distraction of the baserunners and instead, to focus entirely on getting the hitter out.
"I hear there were a couple of pitching coaches here who said it just didn't matter and they got away from doing it,'' said Valentine. "I understand -- I played with Nolan Ryan, I coached Dwight Gooden and coached Tom Seaver. No one ever was a bigger advocate of 'Who (cares) if they get to second base?' It was a different era.
"But if you keep the guy at first and get a double play, a lot of times that means a whole other inning. It means an entire other inning that that starter can pitch. (But) if he goes to second and you get the next three guys out and use your arsenal, a lot of times, that's your last out. That's a big difference in today's game.''
For some, the argument has been that focusing on baserunners means throwing something less than your best pitch. But in Valentine's mind, it isn't necessarily an "either-or'' proposition.
"I never got that,'' Valentine said. "I don't believe in the slide step. Controlling the runner, it's a program that you have built in to vary your cadence, and not say 'I don't (care) if you steal a base.' That's all it is. It doesn't mean you have to be 1.1 (seconds) to the plate. It doesn't mean you have to have a great pickoff move. It just means that you have a program.''
Beckett, who did a better job at the task when he was in the National League earlier in his career, sounded like something of a reluctant convert Saturday.
"The most important thing,'' he said after allowing a run on two hits over five innings, "is to execute the pitch. You can't take away from what we're trying to do (with the hitter). I think they're trying to feel out who's comfortable doing these things, whose comfortable doing it on their own and who needs some signs to come from either the catcher or the bench.
"It's something I've always tried to take pride in. The priority is going to be to get the guy at the plate out. That's never going to change. If I feel like something else is going to take away from that -- whether it's controlling the baserunners on a (given) day -- then I'll still worry about the hitter more than anything.''
Still, Beckett showed some improvement Saturday as he kept the few baserunners who reached in check.
"Today, I thought he was amazing,'' said Valentine. "He had a base stealer out there (outfielder Xavier Avery) and he used his entire package. He threw over three times with three different moves and then quick-pitched the hitter. It was his regular step, but after he came to a very abbreviated stop.''
"You've got to change things up,'' explained Beckett. "You can't just get in a rhythm of going at the same time. That includes picking over at first.''
Valentine wants improvement but knows that eliminating the running game entirely is not feasible.
"It's not the end of the world (when a baserunner steals) -- and it's going to happen,'' said Valentine. "Is it going to happen 31-of-(35) times that they try? I hope not.''