Matsuzaka gets 11th win as Red Sox beat Mariners

Wednesday 23rd July, 05:15 PM JST

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4 Comments

westurn at 09:52 PM JST - 23rd July

Another "dissapointing" win for the RedSox as Matsuzaka fails to go the distance and get the complete game. And let's not forget this was, once again, against a team with a losing record ! Matsuzaka has yet to show top form against any real contenders... just more false accolades ! Ho hum !
some14some at 11:21 PM JST - 23rd July

Mariners = Yokohama BayStars (Japan CL), any opponent team's victory is almost guaranteed with reasonable pitching/batting power. And it is no secret that when it comes to batting power, Boston is one of the best teams in AL. Anyway, Matsuzaka did his job well today.
freakashow at 06:20 PM JST - 24th July

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/gamedayrecap.jsp?ymd=20080723&contentid=3178314&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

This time, Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitching style was both sharp and effective, instead of just the latter.

"He's given up so few hits," Francona said. "Again, he's made it harder sometimes because of his command. But this guy has been a good pitcher. If he keeps winning, I'll gladly answer the questions. He did a good job tonight."

http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1108594

Since Clay Buchholz failed to endure the fifth inning of Friday’s second-half opener against the Los Angeles Angels, Sox starters Beckett, Wakefield, Lester and Matsuzaka have posted an aggregate 3.03 ERA while averaging more than 7 1/3 innings per start.

“When your starting pitching goes that deep, it certainly helps. We’re going to the bullpen in the eighth inning and not the sixth,” Francona said. “We’ve actually pitched pretty well (since the break). If our starting pitching goes deep like that, we should be OK.”

In the cases of Lester and Matsuzaka, especially, the Sox gave the pitchers extended rest at the All-Star break. Matsuzaka had not pitched since July 13. With the effort by Matsuzaka, Sox starters leaped ahead of the Angels’ starters and now possess the second-best ERA in the American league (3.73).

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2008/07/22/upinarms/

In the month of July, all Daisuke Matsuzaka has managed to do is go 1-0 in three starts with 0.49 ERA. Overall, he’s 10-1 with a 2.65 ERA and conceivably could have 12-13 wins if he hadn’t missed a month with shoulder fatigue.

Obviously Matsuzaka has not been acting like an ace, but at least he has been effective. No other pitcher who has pitched more than 80 innings, has given up less hits than Matsuzaka. In nine of 16 starts, Matsuzaka has allowed four or fewer hits. In fact, opponents remain 0 for 11 against him with the bases loaded.

The biggest mistake people make when commenting that Dice-K isn't worth the money is counting the $51.1 posting fee as part of his salary, or at least part of the cost of bringing him here. He did not get a 6 year, $103 million deal, he got a 6 year, $52 million deal. For what he has given the Sox and what the going rate is for pitchers, it has been a bargain.

The posting fee doesn't count against the luxury tax or as part of the team's salary, and the Red Sox are printing money by virtue of sellouts with the highest priced tickets in baseball, $15 Red Sox Nation cards, owning Game On, and selling everything else that isn't nailed down. I wish Dice-K wouldn't waste so many pitches and throw so many walks, but for what the Sox have gotten from him so far, it has been a great deal and it appears that it will continue to be a great deal.

Worth the money, end of story. He had a rough go last year, like any new pitcher/rookie. He ended up with a world series ring on his finger at the end of the year. This year he is 10-1 (so far). He can walk 12 batterers in a game for all I care, whatever he needs to do in order to get the win.

A base on balls is ALWAYS going to do less damage than a hit. Always. The objection to high walk rates is conventional wisdom, and it holds true if the hit rate is average. What Dice-K does is against the conventional wisdom, but so is Ichiro's game, he takes a hit every chance he can get, eschewing the walk. Hits drive in runs far more often than walks do.
freakashow at 06:26 PM JST - 24th July

More quotes from Red Sox fans:

I don't agree with much of your premises. ERA and wins may be less an indicator of quality pitching than they surely used to be, but they are still none the less valid. And as time passes, they become more and more statistically relevant to the assessing the overall performance.

Additionally, while numbers may not tell the whole story, there is validity in the words 'clutch' and 'testicular fortitude'...in other words "when the going gets tough....."

Dice has a 'shut down' mentality. If we garnish praise to Curt and Josh for their big game performances and we believe what we say that they are 'big game. big money' pitchers. well then how can we say anything less about Dice at the moment. The statistics are still only 1.5 years worth, but the win count and big game victories are presenting a telling story.. Dice = W's

Retarded premise. 2.65 ERA. Period. A walk doesn't count until they end up at home plate.

I like Dice-k on that "Glad the Yankees don't have him" level. It's really hard to guess what the real story is with some of these situations, like shoulder fatigue in May, signing Schil with a bum shoulder, and sending a pretty good Masterson down to bring a screwed up Bucholz up.

I agree that watching Dice-K is maddening. What overshadows that for me, however, are memories of the way he pitched in the 2007 postseason. He was terrific. Just get him to the dance, boys, and let him do his stuff. He's a great big game pitcher. Haven't seen any big games in June or July yet...162...patience...

This is perhaps the single dumbest blog I've ever read. Who gives a good goddamn how many people he walks? Would it be better if he walked nobody but was 1-10 with a 6.34 ERA? God, this is such a dumb argument. The ONLY stats that matter are won-loss and ERA. That's how many wins you have, and how many runs you give up per game. What else matters in baseball? YOU ARE PAID TO KEEP RUNNERS FROM SCORING AND WIN GAMES. PERIOD.