Dukeswalk
If you had to put your finger on one problem that Daisuke has had this year, it's easy. He walks too many batters and wastes too many pitches in doing so. Looking at the monthly splits on Daisuke's numbers, June has proved to be his best month. Perhaps, his recent success can be attributed to facing NL clubs in 3 of the 4 contests he's started this month, 2 of those in NL parks where the DH takes a vacation.April - 4.36 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .242 BAA, 10.36 K/9, 2.73 BB/9
May - 5.22 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .280 BAA, 6.81 K/9, 2.50 BB/9
June - 1.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .196 BAA, 11.77 K/9, 4.85 BB/9
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Hold on for just a second. You mean to tell me that Daisuke had his best month of the season while allowing nearly 5 walks per 9 innings? How can that be? I suppose one theory is that batters made much more contact in May. Matsuzaka allowed a .280 batting average to hitters, and only struck out a very average 6.81 batters per nine. He was hittable. In June, despite missing more frequently, he prevented batters from making contact and kept them from driving in runs. Eventually, something like that is going to catch up to you. You can't expect to put yourself into jam after jam and wriggle out of it with a few well timed strikeouts.
I've enlisted "walking guru" Duke Saraie to help me figure out how Daisuke can get his "walking" under control and his dominance of batters back in line with his Seibu days. Duke is a 50-something former fashion model, who now splits time between his home in Monaco and his native Japan. His claim to fame these days is his fitness and wellness program called "Dukeswalk", in which participants engage in all manner of strenuous and contorted walking styles to unleash their inner confidence and tone their outer frame. Saraie, pronounced "sah-RAH-ee-ay", has been a staple on the Japanese variety television circuit over the last few years, and is kind of a cult guru for the young and restless.When I asked Duke what he thought could get Matsuzaka back on track, he laughed boisterously and told me that he could work out the kinks in Daisuke's game with one quick training session in Dukeswalk. He recommended the "torso walk," arguably Duke's best-known exercise. It has been described thus: With your arms raised and crossed above your head and palms joined so that you look like a church steeple, you zigzag along, waving your "spire" and saying "Shyoot, shyoot!" as you go. By the magic of YouTube, I present you with a short peek into the genius of Duke Saraie and the famous "torso walk". The clip is just some random Japanese guy in his office, but you get the point:
Saraie promised that he'd work on this technique with Daisuke before his Seattle start, to improve on his pitch count. I'll take him at his word, and I'll also let his prediction stand as my own this go around.
8 IP
9 hits
3 runs
1 walk
6 strikeouts
The Mariners are last in MLB in walks, so it gives the Duke a little boost in his prediction, but Daisuke has walked 6 batters over 12 innings against Seattle this year and he's given up 10 runs. The Mariners are one of the best hitting teams in baseball, so we might see a short scoring outburst at some point. I think Saraie's "torso walk" will get Matsuzaka to pitch more economically, so 8 innings seems like a good bet. Less strikeouts as well. Hmmmmm.......I might have to tack another run onto that prediction myself and go with 4, but he's the genius, right?
posted by Mike Plugh @ 3:03 PM
11 Comments:
Daisuke will be the man tonight.
He won't let the Mariners get the sweep when he's the one mound.
I'm thinking another Detroit CG or Atlanta 8in performance for Daisuke.
man, mike, i love your blog--especially the little tidbits on japanese pop culture.
thanks, keep up the good work.
gonna hit the local japanese bar this afternoon and watch dice-k vs. ichiro!
No offense to Daisuke, but while I want to see a good performance from him - I'm going to the game looking for an M's sweep.
Heaven knows we need it more than the Red Sox.
Tremendous performance we're having here from Matsuzaka
5IP 2H 1ER 0 Walk and 6K
:O
Where is the run support? Great pitching from Dice-K though!
Yeah it's sad.
Don't know how many games in a row it is now that they cannot produce more than 2 runs for Matsuzaka
Will Matsuzaka be selected as pitcher of the month?
I had a feeling the Mariners weren't winning while Daisuke was on the mound, and they didn't.
Once Piniero got on the mound however, good night.
God this sox offense makes me want to throw up.
I truly believe batters try to work harder when a bad pitcher is on the mound. For instance, look at yesterday game, or look at the Mariners. They barely have a good pitchers, but the batters work their butt off. Quite frustrating for Dice-K. Well, at least he's getting the hang of it. He should get the pitcher of the month. :-)
When I saw Feierabend was pitching, I really thought this was the game when Daisuke-san would finally get some run support. So much for that idea! I did the math, and in his 7 losses and no decisions, the Red Sox have scored a lowly 2.14 runs/game (including 8 runs in one game). In his last 6 games, they have scored an even more lowly 1.50 runs/gm. Regardless of his record, Daisuke is pitching like the Seibu Lion of old; his stuff is finally matching his potential. His fastball is especially heavy, leading to a lot of weak hits and foul balls. His breaking pitches are really starting to bite, too (and the batters are biting as well).
This is all unfortunate, because his record should be closer to 12-2, not 9-5. He should definitely be an All-Star, but his record is currently putting him on the bubble (a 10-5 record would have been a lot more helpful in this regard). What say everybody, is he pitching in SF on July 10th or drowning his sorrows with a 6-pack of Pepsi Ice Cucumber?
Daisuke likes Asahi Beer...
Great blog man! Thanks for the updates. I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you, when you write new blogs posts, go over to BeTheRef.com and post a link to your story, and hopefully get a few extra readers. Keep up the great work!
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