While the Red Sox have pointed to physical problems (most likely soreness devleoped from pitching in the World Baseball Classic before the start of the regular season), Matsuzaka has provided another theory: the Red Sox conditioning program. Matsuzaka claims that his training regiment from Japan allowed him to achieve great success, while his new regiment while playing with the Red Sox has been detrimental to his pitching.
Here's my response: Damare! (that's "shut up" in Japanese, according to About.com)
Maybe I'd be more sympathetic if Matsuzaka showed as much enthusiasm for pitching for the team that actually PAYS HIM, as he does for his national team. Maybe I'd be more sympathetic if it didn't appear that Matsuzaka is struggling more and more with geting outs with every passing season. Granted, we're talking about a pretty small pool of information to analyze, but the results speak for themselves: Matsuzaka throws a lot of pitches to get batters out because his stuff isn't good enough.
So, is it really Boston's fault that Matsuzaka's arm is becoming less effective? Um, no. Matsuzaka's stuff is just getting figured out by major league batters, and it's taking him a lot more pitches to get guys out. Need proof? Check out his post-season games during Boston's 2007 championship campaign. In the time it took Matsuzaka to get someone out, you could do your laundry, update your Facebook page, grab a nap, and check your mail, and still see the end of someone's at-bat.
Matsuzaka's wearing his arm out, and now he's starting to wear out his welcome.
The Red Sox have, in the last few years, figured out how to play winning baseball. Granted, it took 86 years to figure it out, but better late than never. So, to suddenly hear the whining of a unhappy, overpaid employee is just nauseating. Especially when the player seems to make it clear that he chooses country of origin, over country of employment.
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