Major League Baseball

Report: BoSox's Beckett cleared to pitch

Published Mar. 2, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett passed a concussion test Wednesday and was cleared by doctors to resume baseball activities at the team's spring training complex, WEEI.com reported.

Beckett, who suffered a mild concussion Monday in a freak batting practice mishap, was scheduled to start Thursday, but that has now been pushed back.

Manager Terry Francona said Wednesday that the plan is for Beckett to make his next scheduled start next Tuesday.

"He passed his test, which means he's allowed to do some activity. Now, again, they have to monitor his activity," Francona said. "He'll do some biking and some light throwing and then we'll see how he progresses from there."

Francona said the hard-throwing righty has only missed one day of throwing.

Beckett was held out of Tuesday's workouts as a precaution, one day after he was hit in the head with a ball during batting practice.

The two-time World Series winner said Tuesday he was feeling better after a good night of sleep, though he still had some swelling above his left ear.

The accident happened before Boston's game against the Twins on Monday, when Beckett was standing in left-center field shagging fly balls during batting practice.

Coach Ino Guerrero was attempting to hit a ball towards a bucket at second base with a fungo bat when he missed and struck Beckett, who left the field under his own power and was later sent home.

"You go through a bunch of different emotions. First you're pissed because you don't know what happened. Then I tried to walk and I got real dizzy. I kind of took a knee," said Beckett on Tuesday. "You kind of go through everything. I really didn't even know what happened. I didn't know if I got hit by a ball from another field or what. I had no idea what happened."

At first Beckett was annoyed with Guerrero, but said he did not want to be too hard on him.

"He feels terrible. I didn't want to make things worse," Beckett said. "At first I was pissed. I knew he didn't do it on purpose. It's one of those deals. Was it stupid? Yes, it was very stupid. I think he realizes that now."

The 30-year-old is coming off a subpar season in which he went 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA in 21 starts. He missed two months from May to July due to a lower back injury.

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