Beat "Arizona" Takeshi
Thanks to Hiroko Ota, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, I was able to provide another stunningly accurate prediction for Daisuke Matsuzaka's last start. Continuing the trend of celebrity guests, I've enlisted famous Japanese film director, actor, and all around personality Beat Takeshi to make the latest guess. Here's what he had to say:................
Yeah. At first he just kind of stared at me for a few minutes. Then, he had this to say:
"Win."
Mmmm hmmmm.
"Lots of strikeouts."
Yup.
"No walks."
Great.
"Lots of blood and screaming."
No. No. No. You're going to far. Just stick to baseball. This is real. No surrealism.
"A dog will bark in the distance and then a speeding police car will crash through the centerfield fence, followed by an ambulance."
Stop. This is about real baseball. Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Randy Johnson. Red Sox and Diamondbacks.
....................
Do you have anything for me?
.....................
Is this it?
8 IP, 5 hits, no walks, 1 run, 9 strikeouts
Thanks. I'll go with that. Best start to date.
posted by Mike Plugh @ 8:11 PM
5 Comments:
oh Mike - PLEASE be right!
Well so far 5 IP 1 R 3H 3BB 8K
not that far off
But pitch count's at 90... doubt if he can pitch until the 8th
Well the only things you got wrong were the IP's and the walks. And the 4 walks kind of explain the higher # of pitches, which in turn explains the lower IP. Which essentially means the only aspect of the performance you were wrong in predicting was Dice-K's lack of control, which I'm getting very tired of seeing.
How sure are you that he can get these walks under control? Both runs in the game were scored by hitters he walked. He just can't get his splitter or changeup under control at all, it's really frustrating to watch him lose batters all the time.
And it's another loss for Dice-K.
Yeah. The walks are baffling. His K/BB in Japan last season was world class. Of course, Japanese batters go out of the zone for pitches more than Major Leaguers so the ratio was bound to drop, but I don't think it can explain why it has collapsed.
Remember, there is an adjustment period. He will struggle because that's the nature of transitioning to a better league and a whole new way of life. The thing is, we fear his struggles, but he still only allowed 2 runs and lost. How many times has that happened this year? The Sox haven't given him much run support in a number of games, but he is getting matched up against Felix Hernandez and Randy Johnson, for example.
Discouraging, but you'll take 6 innings and 2 runs from your starter if you can get it in this day and age. Hope he can stretch that out to 7 innings and 2 runs, and everyone should be happy.
ooh! ooh! Have someone like Ueto Aya or Matsuura Aya comment on Matsuzaka's next start! That should be an entertaining conversation!
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