Daisuke Matsuzaka - The Roll of the Dice-K!

Daisuke Matsuzaka was by far the biggest free agent signing of the 2007 Baseball season and all season had flashes of brilliance. However after a second half downturn and now two forgettable playoff starts where he could not even go five innings, did the Red Sox crap out on the Dice Man?

While he may not have had met the crazy expectation of the media and Red Sox Nation alike, in reality his only real problem during his first MLB season is not matching the hype attached to him. When was the last time Boston fans did not put unfair expectations on a young gun? And, as the number show, Daisuke Matsuzaka's first year in the majors is very comparable to the 2006 record of current Red Sox ace Josh Beckett.

According to MLB.com, here is a comparison of Josh Beckett in 2006 versus Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007:

Beckett (2006): W-L 16-11, ERA: 5.01, Innings: 204.2, HR Allowed: 36, Walks: 58, Strikeouts:158
Matsuzaka (07):W-L 15-12, ERA: 4.40, Innings: 204.2, HR Allowed: 25, Walks: 80, Strikeouts:201

In virtually every other category such as games started, hits allowed and earned runs, Josh Beckett in 2006 and Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 are identical statistically. Now, can we say that they are the same pitcher? Of course not, but they are both young pitchers with amazing talent that have had their own measures of success before entering the scariest bunch of hitters on the planet: The American League.

It only took one season for Josh Beckett to adjust to the superior lineups to become one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in 2007. While nobody should expect Matsuzaka to duplicate this feat next year, it should be a safe bet that the Dice Man will be a better pitcher next year. But will that be enough for Red Sox Nation? With all the fanfare surrounding his arrival, the Sox faithful may expect nothing less than a Cy Young contender from a man the team payed over fifty million dollars just to talk to.

Some fans seem to add this huge sum to Dice-K's contract in measuring their expectations of him. However if not for the ridiculous posting fee, in which Matsuzaka did not receive a penny, his six-year contract is not even close to the albatross that J.D. Drew's contract may turn out to be.

We also have to look back at the Free-Agent market this past off-season, which had Barry Zito as best pitcher on the domestic market. Of course with the Yankees willing and able to out-spend medium sized nations in order to beat the Red Sox, Theo Epstein had to roll the dice.

There have been times during the regular season where Daisuke Matsuzaka looked like the pitcher we all hyped him up to be. To be sure, facing such dominating hitters every start in a foreign country has humbled the former Japanese-league ace a little. However there is one thing that you cannot take away from Matsuzaka during his ups and downs in 2007; he looks like a fighter and never gives up.

Unfairly, the media and the fans have not treated him like a rookie even though much of his previous opposition in Japan was only marginally stiffer than AAA ball on average. In the American League Dice-K has faced lineups with more power, better averages and the ability to adjust quickly. For Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2007 was only orientation. It will only be fair to judge the Dice Man and see if he meets the hype after we learn how he adjusts this off-season.