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October 16, 2007
BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer
CLEVELAND -- The image of Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka sitting in corner of the clubhouse in complete disarray, following Monday night’s loss in Game Three of the ALCS, was still very real Tuesday afternoon.
It was the second time this postseason, his first in the majors, that Matsuzaka has struggled and it was clear he was very disappointed. At no time did a teammate, coach or manager try to console the “rookie” leaving him to mediate on his own.
Sure the language barrier doesn’t help the situation, but things would have been no different if it was Josh Beckett sitting in disgust at his locker. Actually, the Red Sox’ ace had to deal with similar adversity last season, his first in Boston, and just look at the type of season he’s produced in 2007.
“I see some of the same stuff,” said Beckett when comparing situations. “You have to make a lot of adjustments here, whether you’re coming from the National League to the American, and obviously I have never played in Japan, but I would assume that you still have to make some adjustments.”
Beckett explained because the A.L. East is such a tough division, the best in baseball, Matsuzaka has to make adjustments almost on a pitch-to-pitch basis. No doubt he’s struggled in October, but his teammates still believe in his ability.
“We back Daisuke,” said Beckett. “We still believe every time he goes out there that we’re going to win. It doesn’t have anything to do with the money that they are paying him or anything like that. We believe in him because we know he’s trying. He’s really giving it all.”
As frustrating as it may be for Matsuzaka, his teammates can empathize with him because the support system is quite different. It’s not like they can sit down in the clubhouse and talk, or enjoy a postgame meal with friendly conversation.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who said he did not see Dice-K sitting by himself, doesn’t think it makes much difference if players sit in plain view at their lockers or go and hide to feel shame.
“I don’t think it matters,” said Francona. “What’s the difference if he goes and sits in a room? That doesn’t mean you’re going to hang a curveball next outing or you’re going to pitch well. If a guy chooses to sit in front of his locker, that’s what he did. It’s like a guy coming out with an ice pack and everybody panicking. If the guy had it on in the other room, it’s still the same ice pack.”
Matsuzaka, after all, is a professional and should be able to file away his last two starts in order to be effective his next time out, whenever that is.
“I don’t think he was very happy with his outing,” said Francona. “Then you’re going to have some of the barriers of the language where you have to ask somebody else to ask him, and he has to tell somebody else to tell you. So, it’s not that easy, even on good nights because of the language barrier. I just think he was disappointed with the way things went.”
Because of Matsuzaka’s subpar performance, his second of the postseason, Francona said he did not talk to him on Tuesday because pitching coach John Farrell already had, so there was no need to revisit the situation.
When the season is finally put to rest, that’s when the Red Sox will evaluate Matsuzaka’s performance. Even Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has said in the past that he fully expects Matsuzaka to improve in 2008.
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 9:24 PM | Permalink
