Daisuke Matuszaka wasn’t pleased with his rehab start Monday night for the Pawtucket Red Sox against the Rochester Red Wings.
Matsuzaka pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed zero runs and two hits. But even though he struck out four, he also walked three and threw just 49 of 87 pitches for strikes.
“I had (three) walks and a lot of two-ball and three-ball counts which (elevated) my pitch count,” Matsuzaka said through interpreter Jeff Cutler. “I really wanted to throw at least five innings but it didn’t happen so I’m not really happy about that.”
Matsuzaka was placed on Boston’s disabled list last May 17 and underwent Tommy John surgery on June 10 to reconstruct a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm.
He made his first rehab start on April 23 for Class-A Salem and allowed three runs on four hits over four innings in a 7-2 loss to Wilmington. Matsuzaka’s next rehab start was on April 28 at Class-AA Portland where he received a no-decision in a 9-1 victory over Reading. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits replete with no walks and seven strikeouts.
He topped out at 92 – in the fifth inning – on McCoy Stadium’s radar gun.
Overall, Matsuzaka has pitched 13 1/3 innings, allowed four runs on 11 hits, walked five and struck out 14. His ERA is 2.71.
Matsuzaka expressed concern about his surgically-repaired elbow.
“Overall, my body feels good so that’s fine,” he said. “But my elbow, depending on the day, some days it feels better than others. Right now I’m just hoping that when I start it hits the day that I’m feeling good.
“Being ready in two more games is hard to say because it’s a step-by-step process. I’ll see how I pitch in my next outing and see how that goes and then we’ll see where I stand.”
Matsuzaka indicated that his next rehab start would come on Saturday night when Pawtucket hosts Columbus in a 6:05 p.m. game.
The fifth inning began on a promising note when Matsuzaka caught Pedro Florimon and J.R. Towles looking at a third strike. But Darin Mastroianni then cracked a double off the fence in left-center and Ben Revere walked. That prompted manager Arnie Beyeler to remove him in favor of Alex Wilson who retired Sean Burroughs on a ground out. Matsuzaka extricated himself from jams in three of the first four innings.
Rochester had runners on first and second with two outs in the first (one reached on an error) when Matsuzaka induced Rene Tosoni to foul out to third. Then, in the second, with a Red Wing on second and two outs, Matsuzaka got Towles to wave at a third strike.
A Red Wing was on second with two outs in the fourth but Matsuzaka retired Clete Thomas on a fly ball to center.
“Tonight, I didn’t discuss with the catcher (Ryan Lavarnway) what kind of pitches I wanted to work on. But I threw a lot of two-seam (fastballs) and it ended up being a good practice for that pitch.”
