Will Daisuke make good?

[yeszir]

Will he make good on this?

 

I assure you that the [2010] season will be a great season. I am going to redeem what I lost in 2009. With my health back, I am confident and determined to produce this year. I will [try my best to] become a world champion once again.

 

He reported early to camp yesterday and Epstein said he looks good and clearly worked hard over the summer. Stark contrast to last year's WBC debacle when he reported to camp less than 2 weeks before it started. If he gives us 2008 instead of 2009, we're in excellent shape.

[Cocos Disciples]

If he is indeed healthy I have no reason to believe he won't at least be a solid starter. I actually don't think there's much pressure on him with the addition of Lackey and emergence of Buchholz; at this point he's a back of the rotation starter until he can prove otherwise.

[Spudboy]

Physical health aside, I believe the big question is where is his head at?

[Emmz]

We all know he has the talent and ability to be pretty damn good when he wants to be, but yeah, like Spudboy said, the "where's his head?" is a big question.

 

I think he could revert back to what he was doing a couple years ago, maybe not the sub-3 ERA, but probably something more similar to what Lester-Beckett-Lackey gets. I think he follows through on that statement.

[a700hitter]

I think he follows through on that statement.

If he can't, things will get ugly, because he is so prideful that failure will be very difficult for him. I think he would blame everyone but himself.

[Keeper]

Dice-K will be run out of town if he doesn't make good. Last year with the WBC, he showed that the Sox weren't that high on his list of priorities. Given that the fans have soured on him and given how big his paycheck is, he had better perform. No excuses. Get it done.

[BoSox21]

I'm pretty optimistic about Dice-K this year and I think he's gonna prove to be one of the best, if not the best, #4 starter in baseball

[Dojji]

I don't think we're really in a position where we have to count on Daisuke. If he makes good, that would make our rotation stupendous, otherwise it's merely awesome.

 

We lose Daisuke, our rotation becomess Lester-Beckett-Lackey-Buchholz-Wakefield, still better than most or all of the American League rotations.

[ZonaSoxFan]

I don't think we're really in a position where we have to count on Daisuke. If he makes good, that would make our rotation stupendous, otherwise it's merely awesome.

 

We lose Daisuke, our rotation becomess Lester-Beckett-Lackey-Buchholz-Wakefield, still better than most or all of the American League rotations.

 

Totally agree. I think the Sox have protected themselves well against a non-productive Dice-K..

[TheMino007]

It depends on what you define as making good. Will Dice-K be better than last year? Absolutely, there is no World Baseball Classic to mess up Dice-K this year, and all reports say he has been training and appears to be in pretty good shape. Will he be better than he was in 08? Probably not. I think he'll have an ERA around 4 and hopefully we can get more inninngs out of the guy this year

[Imperial59]

Will he make good on this?

 

 

 

He reported early to camp yesterday and Epstein said he looks good and clearly worked hard over the summer. Stark contrast to last year's WBC debacle when he reported to camp less than 2 weeks before it started. If he gives us 2008 instead of 2009, we're in excellent shape.

 

If he performs anything like he did in 2008, it would be an embarassment of riches.

[yeszir]

Survey says: "no"

 

I may be making a mountain out of a mild back strain, but ST hasn't even started yet and already we're seeing problems.

[a700hitter]

It looks like Dice K will not be ready for the start of the season.

 

From Today's Globe:

 

If that is the case, Matsuzaka is at least 7-10 days away from pitching in a game. At that point of spring training, Matsuzaka is unlikely to have enough time to get the innings a starter needs to prepare for the season.

 

If the Sox designate Matsuzaka as the fifth starter, they could wait until April 18 to use him thanks to the days off built into the first two weeks of the schedule.

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/03/01/red_sox_cameron_groin_forced_to_sit_tight/

[Imperial59]

It looks like Dice K will not be ready for the start of the season.

 

From Today's Globe:

 

 

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/03/01/red_sox_cameron_groin_forced_to_sit_tight/

 

Might not be such a bad thing. We only need four pitchers through the first two weeks anyways and this will allow him to get some extra time to prepare.

[Beckett95]

Dice K is going to put together a pretty good year this year. We are going to see him at the bottom of the rotation going against other teams 4 or 5. Lets not forget this is a guy who not too long ago won 18 games and while control issues have always been a problem he still found way to win games and keep the sox in the game.

 

Ross Bullock

Bullock and the Bunch

[a700hitter]

Another set back for Dice K.

 

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/

[Dojji]

And topically enough, he's missing his bullpen session with.. a stiff neck.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100313&content_id=8777838&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Spudboy]

Sell him back to NPB.

[a700hitter]

Radio announcers are saying that he shut it down after 3 pitches. They called it "ominous". Are they overstating the case? I don't know. Their words , not mine.

[Spudboy]

Let him pursue his true calling either pulling a rickshaw or making sushi.

 

f***-em.

 

Remember Pearl Harbor!

[a700hitter]

Let him pursue his true calling either pulling a rickshaw or making sushi.

 

f***-em.

 

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Lol! My dad (age 91 and going strong) was stationed in the South Pacific for 3 years during WWII. He had a deferment because he had a manufacturing job for military goods, but he gave up the deferment and enlisted because 3 of his 4 brothers had been drafted. When I bought my first Japanese car in 2004, he didn't say anything much, but I could tell that he wasn't happy about it.

 

Dice K is looking to be the second most unreliable Japanese import next to the Toyotas.

[riverside sluggers]

Ok so a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz and Wakefield

[Spudboy]

Lol! My dad (age 91 and going strong) was stationed in the South Pacific for 3 years during WWII. He had a deferment because he had a manufacturing job for military goods, but he gave up the deferment and enlisted because 3 of his 4 brothers had been drafted. When I bought my first Japanese car in 2004, he didn't say anything much, but I could tell that he wasn't happy about it.

 

Dice K is looking to be the second most unreliable Japanese import next to the Toyotas.

 

Lest anyone get the impression that I seriously want to get rid of Dice-K, I don't. I'm just sick of all the s*** associated with his tenure with the Sox. I wish he would be as consistantly good as Oki.

 

Also, I don't hate anyone who is Japanese. But I do have an understanding of what they did in WW ll. Their attack on Pearl was a savage act of cowardice that few people of my generation and younger have an understanding of. History books and sensationalized Hollywood movies don't tell the story. I spent two weeks in Hawaii in 1997 and visited the Pearl Harbor Museum/Memorial. There, I saw raw footage of what happened and was able to get access to information that told exactly what happened. I wish all Americans could go there.

 

I'd love to meet your Dad Ted. That would be really cool.

 

I remember back in 1967 my Aunt bought me a Panasonic Pocket AM radio. That was a big deal back then. NO ONE bought Japanese products. I never left the house with that radio. It would have been smashed and I would have been beaten up. Japanese products were seen as inferior back then! Hahahaha!

 

I listened to all the Red Sox games on that radio. Including the Tony C. beaning.

[Spudboy]

Ok so a rotation of Beckett' date=' Lester, Lackey, Buchholz and Wakefield[/quote']

 

Still the best in the AL.

[Dojji]

I don't think we're really in a position where we have to count on Daisuke. If he makes good, that would make our rotation stupendous, otherwise it's merely awesome.

 

We lose Daisuke, our rotation becomess Lester-Beckett-Lackey-Buchholz-Wakefield, still better than most or all of the American League rotations.

[a700hitter]

I spent two weeks on in Hawaii in 1997 and visited the Pearl Harbor Museum/Memorial. There' date=' I saw raw footage of what happened and was able to get access to information that told exactly what happened. I wish all Americans could go there.[/quote']I went there in 1981. What was surprising to me was that there were probably more Japanese tourists than Americans that went to the memorial.

 

I remember back in 1967 my Aunt bought me a Panasonic Pocket AM radio. That was a big deal back then. NO ONE bought Japanese products. I never left the house with that radio. It would have been smashed and I would have been beaten up. Japanese products were seen as inferior back then! Hahahaha!

A friend of mine at work told me that when his parent bought a Japanese brand TV when he was a kid that he was embarrassed to have his friends see it.

[TheMino007]

Add Dice-K to the list of bombed/failed moves of Theo Epstein, for a genius, the guy has made a lot of bad moves.

[BoSox21]

Add Dice-K to the list of bombed/failed moves of Theo Epstein' date=' for a genius, the guy has made a lot of bad moves.[/quote']

 

The book hasn't finished being written on Dice-K.

[Dojji]

Daisuke cost only money and has been above average for 2 years, and hurt for 1.

 

I don't think you can pronounce him a bust. I wish he wasn't so stubborn and uncoachable though.

[jacksonianmarch]

For the money, he's been below expectations. But he has 3 more yrs to go.