Jay Blues
Wow. Are the Blue Jays struggling now. I imagine that some jobs are in real jeopardy in Toronto right now with 8 consecutive losses in the books. J.P. Ricciardi lied about an injury for months, destroying his credibility, and manager John Gibbons has rubbed more than a few people the wrong way. None of that mattered to Daisuke Matsuzaka as he looked to bounce back from some shaky performances that had a few members of the Nation in therapy.His final line was even better than I expected, mainly because my prediction that Toronto would find a little offense after dropping 7 straight. Not on this night. If not for Alex Rios, the pitching line that Daisuke produced would be seriously frightening. Take away his 3 hits and walk and Matsuzaka would have gone 7 complete on 2 hits and 2 walks. Even so, the results were more in line with what we all expect from the talented rookie.
7 IP
5 hits
3 walks (still too many)
8 strikeouts (outstanding)
1 run (Overbay's HR)
1 win
Things are looking up for Matsuzaka as he was able to translate his recent struggles into an effective workout, and will now look to build on this win for the remainder of May. His K-rate remains one of the best in the sport at more than 10 Ks per 9 innings. If he can harness the control and avoid the walks, he will be unbeatable. Or, at least very very very very good. I'll bring you more in depth analysis of this start and the reaction from Japan shortly. Good to be back on track.
posted by Mike Plugh @ 10:26 AM
9 Comments:
I predicted a pitchers duel and only Daisuke lived up to his end of the deal.
Toronto stinks right now and facing the best team in the AL doesn't help.
I assure you,(great blog by the way) that the only Sox Fans who were bailing on Matsuzaka live somewhere on the intellectual level of the Boston Dirt Dogs website. As in...they're either not very bright, or they just don't pay attention to anything but the ERA. Anyone with more then a passing understanding of how to read a box score was optimistic; stat-heads? Totally comfortable with a few early season hiccups (Mostly referring to your pregame right now).
When Farrell started talking about the way Matsuzaka seemed to rush his delivery and occasionally lose his release point last week, the first thing that came into my mind was that they weren't letting him throw enough. If you're used to repeating your motion a certain number of times to maintain command between starts...well, not being allowed to do that would be a major issue. Been a great deal of talk about the back-and-forth between Matsuzaka, who's wanted to do his own routine, and the Sox medical staff. The word "compromise" has been thrown around a lot. I'm glad they're finally letting him do more of his own thing.
Rios went 4 for 4 with a walk.... so without him Daisuke would have allowed just 1 hit
One of Rios hits was given up by the relief core....
I mean relief corps...
Where are those drunken Red Sox Nation fans who were complaining about Matsuzaka?
Matsuzaka was wicked nasty.
His command did improve from his last start and I predict it will only get better as the season progresses. It seems he is adjusting every start and adapting to a new league, a new strike zone, and a different baseball. His slider looked real sharp and he got a lot of weak swings from it. The one pitch that he struggled with was his change-up. Once he gets more consistant with all of his pitches he will post some great numbers and will be well worth the $103 million dollars.
This performance should shut up the idiots for at least a little while. Very impressive, especially since Daisuke didn't have that "one bad inning" syndrome this time around. His only true mistake was the homer to Overbay, and since it was a solo shot, it barely counts.
I thought Daisuke-san was turning it around, but according to Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News, it's too little too late.
In an article about Roger Clemens' return to the Yankees, Lincicome stated, "...Japanese wonder flop Daisuke Matsuzaka is costing the Boston Red Sox $52 million on top of the $51 million it took just to talk to him."
I was going to watch the game tonight, but I refuse to watch an overpaid wonder flop any longer. Damn you Disuke Matsoosake!!!
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