Full Count
A Furiously Updated Red Sox Blog
WEEI.com Blog Network
RSS
Daisuke Matsuzaka has a plan, and it includes pitching until he’s 40 02.25.12 at 10:46 am ET
By Rob Bradford

Daisuke Matsuzaka still plans on pitching in the United States until he's 40-years-old

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Two years ago, Daisuke Matsuzaka told WEEI.com that his goal was to pitch at least he was 40 years-old and do so while performing in the United States.

Friday he was asked if anything has changed having his career slightly derailed by Tommy John surgery.

“I feel the same way,” Matsuzaka said through translator Jeff Cutler.

Matsuzaka’s future is a topic worthy of conversation, with the 31-year-old entering the final year of his five-year contract. He has pitched in 106 regular season games for the Red Sox, owns a 49-30 record with a 4.25 ERA, having thrown 10,766 pitches. And, by the way, the righty is expected to miss half of 2012 due to elbow injury.

“Five years have gone by pretty quickly,” Matsuzaka said. “It doesn’t feel that way. Going into the last year of my contract, it’s hard to fathom. All I can really do is do what I can to make a comeback and give back to the team as much as possible.

“Even though it’s the last year of my contract, I’m still part of this team. As long as that’s the case my job is to do everything in my power to contribute to the team.”

As one scout who saw Matsuzaka pitch numerous times in Japan recently said, “You haven’t seen the best of Daisuke.”

Even with this elbow-induced pitstop, there is still time.

Upon his return, it will be interesting to see how much more Matsuzaka throws his changeup, a pitch Bobby Valentine said he would like to see the pitcher use more. He has never used the offering more than 11 percent of the time against left-handed hitters since his arrival in ’07, with barely any offerings to righties.

“The changeup is an important pitch for me so I would like to get to the point where I am able to throw it with confidence,” he said.

Then there is the velocity.

Those who saw Matsuzaka pitch in Japan insists he lived between 95-97 mph. Partly due to the elbow injury, he’s never had a season in which is fastball averaged more than 92 mph.

“I’m not sure where my velocity is going to be when I come back, but what I’m looking forward to the most is being healthy and that’s all that I’m worried about at the moment,” he said. “(Pitching with a lower velocity) was a cause of stress, but I had to find a way to work through that.

“When I make a comeback I want to be able to throw the ball in a way I can be satisfied with and be happy with my performance. I would like to show everybody a me that’s the best they’ve ever seen.”

Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • bruinman86

    He probably can….in Japan!! 

  • Petey

    please no.

  • NEsportsfan

    Ya,but not here.

  • KC

    final year of a six-year contract, right? 07, 08, 09, 10, 11…and 12.

  • Spinninghorsevideo

    Good luck, Daiske. But just not in Boston. We’ve had enough of you getting paid a ton of money for mediocre performance. You’ve been nothing more than a Japanese Carl Crawford – too much emotion and “sensitivity” and not enough passion for excellence.

    As for Crawford, I don’t wish him ill, just not here in Boston. I’m sorry, but does anyone else think all of these overpaid players need to go back to the streets, where the rest of us live paycheck by paycheck? Sensitive to where he’s played in a line-up – c’mon, for God Sakes. Really, get real. And since the Red Sox seem ok with that kind of attitude, that is why I am no longer as passionate a Red Sox fan as I used to be.

    Thanks for all the memories Sox. And last year’s memories will take a long, long time for this baseball fan to get rid of. 

  • gyro

    yea 6 year 52 million….he wasn’t counting this year when he said the last 5 years have gone by quick

  • williemobrown

    he can pitch til he’s 70 at the rate he’s pitching now!  what’s he throw, about 6 innings a year?

  • Yesmam67

    I am hoping Bobby V. gets something out of Dice-K…I wish him well…right up until he signs with the Yankees…then my goodwill is done for good…lol

  • Alpha

    “Shinshua Boras Mishua Unshua”..

    Translation: Boras is God !

  • Billy

    Six years and he still can’t say a word in English.  This guy has his own agenda.  If he’s smart he’ll go back to Japan and be adored.  Are all of those Japanese photographer still around or did they lose interest too?

  • http://nellewrites.net nelle

    I’m in a minority of one it seems… bring him back. 

  • Anonymous

    Sorry but, the guy is just painful to watch pitch. All those years he was here, seemed like foreva… Take your sushi-sorry-butt outa here.

  • anguillaman3

    Remember Pedro Martinez’s two hour games…..contrast this with Dice K…..there have been Dice K games that involve 2 hours in 3 innings.  Dice K is perhaps the most painful pitcher to watch in the history of the Sox.

  • Bielawski82

    “He has pitched in 106 regular season games for the Red Sox, owns a 49-30 record with a 4.25 ERA”

    That hardly sounds like a bust at all… I think this guy catches too much flack!

  • Bielawski82

    It is kind of a wonder that he can’t at least have his translators prepare some short statements that he could practice and say on his own.  Plus baseball, especially for pitchers, is a game of waiting and waiting… that’s all time he could be studying.

  • Bielawski82

    I understand he can’t do full press conferences in English, but he should at least be able to parrot some prepared short statements, it’s been six years! 

    Anyway, he won 49 games (not including post season) in 4 years, it’s not great but he’s not a bust either.  He also put together two back to back one hitters last year just before he got hurt, which I think shows he’s still got real potential.  If he can pitch anything like that after he comes back this year, the Sox should consider signing him on for more.

  • AL34

    they are not that stupid.

  • walt from spencer

    Right and like Lou Gossett said in “An Officer and A Gentleman”, my grandmother wants to fly jets!

  • Bubba

    Pitch till he’s 40? At the rate innings go by when he’s pitching, that would be like 5 starts.

Red Sox Box Score
Red Sox Schedule
Baseball Analytics Blog
Red Sox Headlines
Red Sox Minor League News
Red Sox Team Leaders
MLB Headlines
Tips & Feedback

Verify