Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester, two important components to the future of the Red Sox starting rotation, both took the mound today with divergent outcomes.
First, the one with all the attention: Dice-K pitched 5.2 innings, gave up one run on one hit, one walk, and whiffed seven batters. He threw 92 pitches, 61 for strikes and retired 15 of the last 16 batters. The fact that he’s already up at 92 pitches two weeks before his major league debut to me is a positive thing because it shows he’s ready to pitch, and he’s ready to pitch deep into games.
It will be interesting to hear Matsuzaka’s thoughts post game. What efficiency percentage level was he at? How did he feel? Did he approach it like a real game?
Over at Pittsburgh’s Lumber Co., Cory Humes liveblogged the game between Dice-K and the Pirates. He started off skeptical, saying “the kid keeps the ball down, throws strikes
