Daisuke Matsuzaka Madness  

I really thought that when David Wells went down, the Red Sox were going to give Papelbon the chance to start. I'm surprised that he lasted so long in that role, but I do want to see him as a starter. It's the same thing with Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals. Papelbon and Wainwright both have great stuff but have the durability to be starters. I don't think the team should limit them to just closer roles and should maximize the talen of both guys. Granted, their careers could be longer if they stayed as closers, but both teams would benefit more from Papelbon and Wainwright as starters.

You're probably right about Matsuzaka. He'll find that baseball in the States is much different than in Japan. Nonetheless, he'll probably win Rookie of the Year and I'll be disappointed.

I think you both are looking at it the wrong way. The reason they want Papelbon out of that roll is to lessen the strain on his arm. They'd rather them work at 92-94 instead of trying to be a pure power pitcher and have to throw so hard every evening. Working once a day (despite the longer innings) should have less stress because he's going to be able to work at less than max arm strength.

If Matsuzaka wins 16 games, then he's everything the Red Sox paid for and more, I mean seriously. With the type of offense they're going to run out there (With or without Manny), a rookie winning 16 games is a HUGE accomplishment. I'm going to envision more like 12 or so, which is still a solid contribution from a rookie pitcher in the DH happy American League.

I think the stress that Papelbon will see on his shoulder as a starter will be potentially much more destructive than if he was a closer. Papelbon will have to use full strength on hs arm if he wants to succeed; no one throws a baseball at half-strength in the majors unless he wants to fail. He's going to be throwing 90-100 pitches a night instead of 20 and it will be an unwelcome surprise to his shoulder. The Red Sox are doing this to maximize his talent and with the offense as you mentioned, he may not have to pitch as far into a game.

It drives me crazy that players that have played in professional leagues like Japan can come here and win Rookie of the Year. I wish I could say I thought Matsuzaka will fail miserably in a league where offense rules but he might not. He has a lot of talent and might be able to keep the better hitters of MLB off-balance. He should be careful of the fact that these hitters are usually better than anything he has ever faced.

I'm just saying as a college ball player, I know we have taken guys out of the closer roll because they felt the tendency to "overthrow" and put extensive strain on the shoulder. IF (and especially at the professional level), power pitchers convert themselves to weekday starters and get some sort of rhythm into their off day workouts, where they're not pitching everyday and have specific bullpen days, etc... it can LESSEN the strain --- granted it works both ways (i.e. Kerry Wood possibly converting to a closer roll).

As far as Matsuzaka goes I think he might have a Hideo Nomo type inpact in that he might be really tough for a year or two until players catch on to his particular pitching style in which case he may experience some struggles. It will be interesting to watch.

Either way, the Red Sox are going to have to be careful with Papelbon's shoulder and monitor it very closely. As the possible fourth of fifth starter in that rotation, the pressure to succeed will not be as great and he should be able to ease into that role. It seems like Papelbon is a tough guy and he should be able to bounce back. His original plans were to become a starter so the fact that he is doing what he wants could prove to be even more beneficial.

I also think you could be right about Matsuzaka. His first season may be his best as hitters know little about him. This also brings up the point of Justin Verlander. Now that many of the AL hitters have seen him once or twice, it may be hard for him to duplicate the success he had in 2006. I can definitely see him going into a sophomore slump.

Alright well maybe 16 wins would be pretty damn good, or decent. They still overpayed, and lets remember that he might be a rookie here, but he has played a number of seasons in Japan.