Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Matsuzaka Watch: Episode 23

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Daisukeeeee. Happy birthday to you. On his 26th birthday, Daisuke Matsuzaka took the hill against fellow playoff qualifier Nippon Ham. It's a three way race for the 1st round bye, as Seibu, Nippon Ham, and Softbank are all within a game of one another. Fortunately, Seibu is hanging onto it's slim lead. Matsuzaka leading the charge late in the season is a powerful advantage, although Softbank ace Kazumi Saito is sporting a sub-2.00 ERA and pulling a few rabbits out of his hat as well.

How did the birthday boy do tonight? I always ask that silly question in my recaps. The answer is always the same. Complete game victory. This one was of the shutout variety. Nippon Ham only managed 5 hits and 2 walks against the ace, as he struck out 10. He tossed a hefty 121 pitches over 9 innings, which is actually a pretty dominant feat. Here's the gory details.

Akira Eto, hitting .229, started at DH and immediately made an impact by following a hit batsman with a resounding grand slam in the 3rd inning. The logic of starting a DH with a .229 batting average escapes me, but you have to love a guy who produces a big fly in that situation. Especially when it follows a teammate getting plunked. Matsuzaka made that big blow stand up as he scattered 5 hits and two walks over 9. I make that point again, because he really did scatter them. He had two baserunners on in the 3rd, and never more than a single man on first in every other inning. He was never in danger.

The 8th inning saw some insurance runs cross the plate for Matsuzaka, as his teammates produced a leadoff hit, back to back walks, and back to back RBI singles to extend to 6-0. That's where the game ended as Daisuke worked a 1-2-3 9th, culminating in a swinging strikeout of human mannequin, Shinjo. It sealed the 16th win of the season for the young ace, which is the rough equivalent of 19 wins in the Major Leagues. His ERA is now 1.93 after getting his 5th straight win. He has also put up double figure Ks in 3 of his last 4 starts. This is the kind of toughness teams covet in their high paid stars. The heat of a pennant race has brought out the best in the Lions' #1 guy.

UPDATE: Reader, Krish, has posted a pitch-by-pitch rundown of the game in the comments section, featuring batter, pitch type, balls and strikes, and speed. Enjoy!

Word is the Mets have entered the scouting of Matsuzaka. A dozen teams had scouts in the stands for this game, and you know they liked what they saw. The Mets have money and have been very aggressive, so it would seem there's a bigger race emerging for Daisuke's services. Whoever pays Seibu to negotiate with him will get the benefit of the following statistics. Pay attention to the ratios at the bottom. (click to enlarge):

3 Comments:

At 1:37 AM, Blogger Krish said...

Inning 1:
vs Hichori Morimoto
143 FB Ball
143 FB Strike
124 CB Strike
149 FB 4-3

vs Kensuke Tanaka
137 CT Ball
148 FB F-9

vs Michihiro Ogasawara
139 CT Ball
150 FB Ball
148 FB Ball
150 FB Strike
139 CT Strike
132 SL Strikeout

Inning 2:
vs Fernando Seguignol
148 FB Line drive single to center

vs Atsunori Inaba
146 FB Strike
141 CT Ball
148 FB F-7

vs Tsuyoshi Shinjo
148 FB Strike
132 SL Ball
147 FB Strike
149 FB 1-3

vs Nato Inada
129 SL Strike
150 FB Ball
131 SL Strike
150 FB Strike
152 FB Strikeout

Inning 3:
vs Shinji Takahashi
147 FB Ground single through the middle

vs Makoto Kaneko
142 CT Strike
140 CT Strike
129 SL Strikeout

vs Hichori Morimoto
128 SL Strike
147 FB Strike
150 FB Ball
149 FB Ball
137 SP Strike
128 SL Ball
130 SL Strike
149 FB Strike
149 FB Strike
150 FB Walk

vs Kensuke Tanaka
130 SL Strike
140 CT Ball
132 SL Strike
130 SL Ball
142 CT Ball
151 FB F-8

vs Michihiro Ogasawara
137 SPL Strike
131 CU Ball
140 SL F-9

Inning 4:
vs Fernando Seguignol
138 CT Strike
133 SP Ball
126 SL Ball
148 FB 4-3

vs Atsunori Inaba
131 SL Ball
142 CT Line single to left

vs Tsuyoshi Shinjo
131 SL Strike
145 FB F-7

vs Naoto Inada
122 CU Strike
123 CU Ball
124 SL 1-3

Inning 5:
vs Shinji Takahashi
136 CT Line single to right

vs Makoto Kaneko
127 SL Strike
144 FB Strike
140 CT Strike
132 SL Strikeout

vs Hichori Morimoto
142 FB Ball
123 CB Strike
125 SL Strike
125 SL Ball
128 CU Ball
139 CT Strike
146 FB Strikeout

Inning 6:
vs Kensuke Tanaka
123 CU Strike
147 FB Pop to 3B

vs Michihiro Ogasawara
126 SL Strike
138 CT Strike
128 CU Ball
149 FB Ball
127 SL 4-3

vs Fernando Seguignol
127 CU Ball
123 SL Ball
127 SL 4-3

Inning 7:
vs Atsunori Inaba
146 FB Ball
125 SL Ball
139 CT 1U

vs Tsuyoshi Shinjo
149 FB Ground single to left

vs Naoto Inada
146 FB Strike
126 SL Strike
123 CU Strikeout

vs Shinji Takahashi
150 FB Ball
148 FB Strike
145 FB Strike
130 SL Ball
134 SP Strike
147 FB Strikeout

Inning 8:
vs Toshimasa Konta
122 SL Strike
130 SL Strike
144 FB Strikeout

vs Hirochi Morimoto
123 SL 5-3

vs Kensuke Tanaka
136 CT Ball
105 CU Strike
119 SL Ball
148 FB Ball
125 SL Walk

vs Michihiro Ogasawara
146 FB Ball
146 FB Strike
125 SL Ball
150 FB Strike
127 SP Ball
131 SL Strike
151 FB Strikeout

Inning 9:
vs Fernando Seguignol
137 CT Ball
121 SL 1-3

vs Atsunori Inaba
146 FB Ball
114 CB Strike
129 CU Ball
150 FB Ball
150 FB F-7

vs Tsuyoshi Shinjo
127 SL Ball
142 FB Strike
140 FB Strike
153 FB Strikeout

Final Line: 9.0 IP, 10 SO, 2 BB, 5 H
Extended Line: 121 Pitches (75 strikes), 11 GB, 6 FB, 3 LD, 1 POP, 0 XBH

He topped out at 153 KPH (95 MPH), hitting on his last pitch of the game and sat around 91-92 with his fastball. Take the pitch types with a grain of salt.

 
At 7:27 AM, Blogger Mike Plugh said...

Wow.

Thanks Krish. That's taking my obsession to another level completely, but I LOVE IT!!

It shows you how he works hitters and changes speeds from the 120's and low 130s up to high 140s and 152-153.

For MPH equivalents, he was using 78 MPH stuff, mixing in 82 on the slider, and then popping a 92-95 MPH fastball.

 
At 12:03 PM, Blogger Krish said...

You can actually get this data from every game if you want. My Japanese is terrible, but if you know how to navigate this site, I am sure you can find the reports for all of his games.

I was going to try trial and error to find some, but I got tired.

http://sports.nifty.com

 

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