Boston.com - Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka recently criticized the Red Sox in the Japanese media, blaming his struggles this season on the team’s throwing program and training regimen, and also expressed his frustration to the team in a face-to-face meeting at Fenway Park last week.
'Japanese article, which appeared in the Japanese website Allatanys and translated to English and first reported in the Boston media by WEEI.com, that he is not confident he will have the same success he enjoyed in Japan in the major leagues if the Red Sox do not allow him to train the way he used to. Matsuzaka’s former regimen included extended throwing sessions, which he says the Red Sox no longer allow him to do.
“If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan,” Matsuzaka is quoted as saying in the article, according to WEEI.com’s translation. “The only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years [in the United States] was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan. Since I came to the Major Leagues, I couldn't train in my own way, so now I've lost all those savings.”
According to Nikkan Sports reporter Takaaki Yamauchi, who spoke to the Globe this morning from Fort Myers, Fla. (where the pitcher is rehabbing), Matsuzaka explained his dissatisfaction to the Red Sox during a 90-minute meeting with manager Terry Francona, general manager Theo Epstein, and pitching coach John Farrell at Fenway Park on July 24.
Specifically, Matsuzaka has recently been unhappy that the Red Sox are not allowing him to throw as often as he would like. When Matsuzaka first reported to Florida earlier this month to rehabilitate his shoulder after being put on the disabled list for the second time this season, he was throwing (not pitching off of a mound) for two days, then resting his arm on the third day, according to Yamauchi. Now, Matsuzaka is limited to throwing for one day (again, not from a mound) and resting the next day. So instead of throwing two of every three days, he is now throwing one of every two.
Matsuzaka has been additionally frustrated by the fact that the Red Sox do not have a timetable for his return to the rotation, according to Yamauchi.
Matsuzaka has made eight starts in 2009 with a 1-5 record and 8.23 ERA, a horrid stat line the Red Sox blamed primarily on the effects of him pitching for the Japanese team in the World Baseball Classic before the season.
"I know that there are Japanese starters who came to the United States before me only have two or three successful years,” Matsuzka said, according to the Globe’s translation. “I now believe that it is because of a difference in training and conditioning methods.
“If I don't act, people in the Major League Baseball will never change their attitude toward it. I need them to understand this. It is more than just about myself but future Japanese pitchers who come over to the United States." '
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Zip it Dice K. Stop crying like a little bitch try throwing strokes for once. You gonna blame the training for your 8.23 ERA? Maybe your arm hurts cause you throw 120 pitches per 5 innings. Your unhappy the Sox won't let you throw more with an injured shoulder? As much as I hate the Red Sux, I am pretty sure they have dealt with injured players before. Just be happy your in the majors and that you will be a serviceable bullpen arm within the next 2 years. Maybe Japanese pitchers flame out after two years because they are just not that good and the rest of baseball figures them out. And was it really your training that forces you to walk batter after batter? Just put a lid on it and be happy your playing for a Major League franchise.
PS: Nice 100 million you spent there Theo.
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