51 Reasons why you should love Daisuke Matsuzaka
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by user Bmoseley07
Haven't heard enough positive things about Matsuzaka? Well here's a bulleted list in chronological order of reasons why you should be estactic about the little Monster coming to Beantown:
- 1998: High School senior (age: 17)
- Pitched a 250-pitch, 17-inning game in the playoffs for the win
- No-hitter in the championship game
- Became the only high school pitcher to go undefeated all season
- Set the high school record for strikeouts (208)
- Set a Koshien record with 14 Ks in a game
- led Japan to the world amateur championship title and winning the MVP award
- 1st round draft pick
- 1999: Rookie season (18)
- Set numerous rookie pitching records
- Led the Pacific League (PL) in wins (16), while 3rd in ERA (2.60)
- First kid out of high school to strikeout 10 or more in his 1st exhibition game
- Struck out 5 in All-star game (record for rookie out high school)
- Tied the record for most strikeouts in a game by a rookie with 15
- Pitched 5 perfect innings in his first start in Nippon Pro Baseball
- 2nd rookie out of high school to pitch a shutout in April since WWII
- First game against Ichiro: struck him out in 3 consectutive at-bats
- Rookie of the Year in the PL
- Made the Best Nine team as top pitcher in circuit (first rookie out of high school to do so)
- 2000: (19)
- First teenage opening-day pitcher in 15 years
- Led the league in wins (14), shutouts (2) and stikeouts (144)
- Made Best Nine pitcher again.
- 2001: (20)
- Led the league in
- Wins (15)
- Innings (240.3)
- Complete games (12)
- Shutouts (2)
- Strikeouts (217)
- Won the Sawamura Award for best pitcher in Japan
- Became the 9th pitcher in NPB history to make the three Best Nines
- 2002: (21)
- Elbow injury: 6-2 with a 3.68 ERA and 78 Ks in 73.3 innings
- 2003: (22)
- 2nd in the league in wins (16)
- Tied for first in ERA (2.83)
- Lead the league in strikeouts (215)
- 2004: (23)
- Became the 1st Japanese pitcher to reach 100 mph on a radar gun (happened during the Olypmics)
- Shut out Cuba for 8 innings to pick up the win in the Olympics
- Held Australia to 1 run, yet still lost
- Led the league in ERA (2.90)
- Led his team to their first championship victory in 14 years.
- 2005: (24)
- Led the league in:
- Strikeouts (226)
- Innings (215)
- Complete games (15)
- Tied for league lead in shutouts (3)
- Third in league in ERA despite being his personal best (2.30)
- Fifth in wins with lack of run support (14)
- Became the 5th fastest NPB pitcher to reach 1,000 career strikeouts
- Won 6th Gold Glove
- 2006: (25)
- Named MVP of World Baseball Classic after beating Cuba in the final
- He went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in the tournament
- 2nd in the league in wins (17), ERA (2.13), and strikouts (200)
- Led the league in complete games (14)
- Finished third in MVP voting
- Signed a $52 million/6 year deal
- 2007: Rookie in MLB (26)
- What's next?
All information pulled from Baseball Reference's Bullpen Wiki. You can find out a whole lot more from this blog: Matsuzaka Watch which has play-by-play recaps on the games, along with some video clips.
I have to say I think he's going to have a year that is very similar to what he's been doing in Japan. His ERA may not be as low, but he'll definitely strike out as many, if not more.
Not only does he have 6 pitches he can choose from, but American batters are bigger which will provide him with an even larger strike zone than he needs. Also, Japan is more of slappy, get-the-bat-on-the-ball type of players compared to MLB's more HR-aggressive approach.
He made the transition from high school ball to the pros without a flinch and I really can't see him being anything but a future ace for the team once Schilling retires. Red Sox Nation should look forward to more than half a decade of great pitching from Diasuke (Monster) Matsuzaka.
Read more from this author here: Here's to Next Year
