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The Other Japanese Pitcher

Lost a bit in the aftermath of Daisuke Matsuzaka's outing in Toronto on Tuesday night was the performance of his Japanese countryman, Hideki Okajima.

The left-hander whiffed all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, showing an effective use of his changeup in punching out Gregg Zaun, Royce Clayton and Jason Smith.

The most important part of that outing was the fact that all three batters were right-handed (Zaun, a switch hitter, was batting right-handed). It showed manager Terry Francona something. Most left-handed relievers tend to be one-batter, lefty-on-lefty specialists.

"With Okajima being left-handed and being able to get right-handers out has been a big plus for our bullpen," said Francona this afternoon. "That has a chance to really impact our bullpen."

Francona was just as glowing in his praise of Okajima after the game Tuesday night.

"That changeup of his is a real weapon," said Francona. "It's a very good changeup, and if he can locate his fastball to go along with that changeup, he can be tough on right-handers."

This season, Okajima has appeared in six games, totaling 6 2/3 innings. He has fanned eight, and has an earned-run average of 1.35, giving Francona more confidence in calling for him in any set-up situation.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:44 PM | Permalink