BOSTON -- Barring any unforeseen setbacks in the side session he plans to throw Tuesday, Josh Beckett is scheduled to return to the Sox rotation on Friday in Seattle, according to manager Terry Francona. Beckett has been out since May 18, when he slipped on a wet mound in Yankee Stadium and strained his back.

On Sunday, Beckett discussed his rehab start Saturday in Syracuse and his general condition as he prepares to return to the rotation:

-- On how he felt the start went:

"Good. Real good. I actually thought statistically my worst inning was probably the best I felt [referring to the fourth]. Just with the game coming to me and not rushing and overthrowing and stuff like that."

-- On some problems with his curveball:

"Early in the game I was trying to make it happen instead of just letting it happen. That's what I was saying. In the third and fourth inning, I felt like my breaking stuff was really good."

-- On how he's coming along physically:

"I think as far as the buildup of stuff, I'm where I need to be. Obviously, I can't make that decision all by myself. We'll see where it goes from there. As far as I'm concerned, I think I'm ready to start Friday, but that's not the end all, be all. They [the team] will obviously have a huge say in that."

-- On whether he feels like he’s on a normal schedule:

"Yeah, I feel like I've been on a normal schedule with the sides and the lifting and stuff like that. It's getting back to normal. I need to get to where I can make the adjustments from pitch to pitch instead of pitch to every three pitches."

--On what he was told about starting in Seattle:

"That's something that we've discussed. But like I said, and I told them, from my standpoint as far as the buildup goes, I felt like ... you know, I threw 80 pitches yesterday and I felt like I still had gas in the tank. Obviously, we're building up. You don't want to push the envelope too much."