Daisuke Matsuzaka

Dear Readers (all five of you):

I've been active on my other blog at www.fannation.com, under the username JFro, but I continually forget to publish those posts here. That said, the next five posts should be considered my belated MLB preseason predictions -- a preview, of sorts. There's the top five infields, outfields, bullpens, and starting rotations, and of course The Big Kahuna:

Continue reading "Note about forthcoming posts"

d is now a half game back of Boston, who defeated the Orioles 2-1 behind another strong outing from Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is now 10-1 on the season.

    The Angels scored one run in the eighth and two in the ninth off Oakland closer Huston Street to win 4-3 in the rubber game of the three-game weekend series, and moved six games up on the A's in the AL West.  Francisco Rodriguez shut the door in the ninth for his 38th save of the season, an all-time record before the All-Star break.  His 38 saves through 95 games put him on pace for 65, which would shatter Bobby Thigpen's record of 57 saves, set in 1990 with the White Sox.  On Monday, K-Rod declared that he will test the free agent waters at the end of the season, although he did not rule out returning to the Angels.  He is currently making $10 million this season after losing his arbitration case for $12.5 million this past winter.

Continue reading "Big Pelf and the Mets Take Nine Into ..."

itters until his first start in Toronto and is essentially a couple of weeks behind everybody else. Daisuke Matsuzaka has looked much more comfortable so far this season and leads the league in strikeouts, but nonetheless needs to cut down on the walks and challenge hitters more. The key to the rotation at this point seems to be whether or not Jon Lester will be able to step up and become the top tier pitcher Boston expects him to be.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

I was so looking forward to watching the Boston Red Sox battle the Oakland As in Japan in what is the earliest opening season game in MLB history and figured that down here in North Carolina, I'd be less apt to hear about the score before I was able to watch a replay later in the day (I'm a fan, but 6 a.m. is just insane). Anyway, I stepped in to talk to my significant other around 9 a.m. and first thing, she tells me that according to Regis Philbin, the score is 4-4. Less than two hours later, I get an e-mail from a Sox fan down here, who tells me that they won, 6-5 in 10 innings. . . Grrrrrrr!

Continue reading "As I watch. . .the Boston Red Sox ..."

ns to the level to which we have become accustomed?

What Can We Expect From Dice-K This Season?

Daisuke Matsuzaka’s 2007 season was met with mixed reviews. On the one hand, he won 15 games, threw 204 innings and struck out 201 batters. At times he looked dominant and had opposing hitters completely overmatched. He finished the year with a mediocre 4.40 ERA and walked 88 batters. September was especially brutal as he posted an ERA over 7.00. His control at times was erratic and walks came in bunches and led to big innings. There is no doubt that last year was full of adjustments for Dice-K especially adapting to a new culture as well as American League hitters. Josh Beckett also struggled his first year in the American League but he made adjustments the second time around and was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game last season. If Dice-K can similarly adjust and cut down on the walks, Boston will have an absolutely lethal 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation.

Continue reading "Boston Red Sox Spring Training Stories To Follow"

Dice-K (Daisuke Matsuzaka) didn't have the 'super season' that management expected when they paid all those millions; first, just for the right to talk to him and then, with his contract, but he did end up winning 15 games and getting those 201 strikeouts. Expect him to have gotten over his 'cultural' adjustments and improve on that record. Then there's Schilling, who's heading into the proverbial twilight of his career (he's said that he'll retire after this season, but can you say 'Clemens'?). He seems to have figured out how to make adjustments that continue to make him a threat to opposing batters. And knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who won two more games than Dice-K last year, will be back. Rumors are that he'll play until he's about 65. There'll be a struggle for the fifth position in the rotation with lefty Jon Lester and right-hander Clay Buchholz leading the pack.

Continue reading "Getting closer"