We will continue to spotlight the Red Sox starters with today's profile: Daisuke Matsuzaka. He's been a great mystery during his tenure in Boston, as we have seen everything from him except what was advertised: a dominant pitcher. Even with his 18 wins and 2.90 ERA in 2008, he averaged less than six innings per start, walked nearly 100 batters, and was a benefit of a lucky .267 average on balls batted in play or BABIP (the average is .300). Today, we will focus on his 2009 statistics, his career highs in parentheses, and a 2010 outlook.
Games Started: 12 (32 - 2007)
ERA: 5.67 (2.90 - 2008)
WHIP: 1.38 (new career high)
Wins: 4 (18 - 2008)
K's: 54 (201 - 2007)
Innings Pitched: 59.1 (204.2 - 2007)
Batting Average Against: .325 (.211 - 2008)
Pitches/Game Started: 91.9 (108.7 - 2007)
2010 Outlook: The $100 million man is entering the his fourth season with the Sox, and the team's faithful are beginning to lose their patience with the once heralded Japanese star. As recently as yesterday, Dice-K had to cut his bullpen session short (again) even though he was scheduled to throw a live batting practice.
Dice-K is unlikely to enter the season in the rotation as he is simply not prepared. He hasn't gotten his proper work in as he continues to battle injury woes. This has to be disappointing for the Japanese hurler, who had spent most of his winter at the esteemed Athletes Performance Institute to make sure he was ready for the season. Look for Matsuzaka to start to get some work in the coming couple of weeks and then possibly head to extended Spring Training to begin the season. Tim Wakefield may start the season in the rotation, after all.
Matsuzaka needs to find consistency and control. If he hopes to improve, he cannot labor through 20+ pitch innings anymore. Dice-K will have to cut down his walks significantly, and he really needs to do a better job of finding the corners on the plate. He should be well-adjusted to the slightly smaller MLB strikezone (than Japan) by now as he enters his fourth year with the team. There's no questioning his innate talent, but like so many other athletes, it's parlaying those talents into on-field success that the Red Sox hope for this season from Dice-K.
Previous Previews:
Jacoby Ellsbury
Dusin Pedroia
Victor Martinez
Kevin Youkilis
David Ortiz
J.D. Drew
Mike Cameron
Adrian Beltre
Marco Scutaro
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
John Lackey
Clay Buchholz
Next Up: Tim Wakefield
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