Josh Beckett is known as a post season ace. He's 6-2 in the post season including game 7s, so it comes as no surprise that the Boston Red Sox are concerned about his latest injury. The injury is a pulled oblique muscle, which can be very harmful for a pitcher. Josh Beckett's injury happened during a warm up session.

There are four oblique muscles in the human body. The one that Josh Beckett has hurt is the abdominal external oblique muscle, so we're just going to call it an oblique from here on out. 

What is the oblique muscle? The oblique muscle is the very large muscle running down the side of your body. It extends from your ribs into your abdomen. It's job is to ensure pressure is maintained in your abdomen and to a lesser extent support of your spine. It's a big reason your organs are held in place.

How do you hurt your oblique muscle? Stress, trauma and over use. The muscle will pull or tear if it's improperly used or tweaked. Pitchers take advantage of their oblique by twisting, so it makes sense that a pitcher would suffer this injury.

How do you diagnose a pulled oblique muscle? It depends on the severity, but it most cases a doctor can tell through range of motion exercises and description/location of the pain. Most people with a pulled oblique have discomfort breathing and twisting. 

How do you treat a pulled oblique muscle? Time will heal the muscle, but you can also do a couple of things to help the process along such as heat and ice treatment and rest.  

How long does it take to recover from a pulled oblique muscle? Yep, you guessed it. More severe is more time, but in most cases a week of rest and treatment can allow someone to recover full range of motion and strength.