Tazawa to Start For Triple-A Red Sox Tonight

If you had gathered around the water cooler this morning and overheard colleagues saying that a Japanese hurler would be taking the hill for the Red Sox tonight, you more than likely would have assumed that Boston hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka had made a miraculous recovery from shoulder fatigue.

Upon listening more closely, however, several things would become clear.

First of all, Dice-K just recently began pitching again off flat ground in Florida and is weeks, if not months, from returning to the Boston rotation. 

Second, the Red Sox that your buddies were speaking of were the Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League and third, the phenom from the Far East they were discussing was Junichi Tazawa.

The 23-year old Tazawa will be making his Triple-A debut tonight in Buffalo as the Pawtucket Red Sox take on the Buffalo Bison. Tazawa was called up from Double AA Portland this week after posting a 9-5 record with a 2.57 ERA (second in the Eastern League).

Tazawa, a native of Yokohama, Japan has given up 28 earned runs in 98 innings and is tied for third in the Eastern League with 88 strikeouts. In his last ten starts for the Sea Dogs, he is 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA, including a six inning, three hit, no run outing in his last start against New Britain on July 23.

The right-hander was selected for the 2009 Eastern League All-Star team, but did not appear in the game. He was also chosen to play in the 2009 MLB Futures Game in St. Louis, and was expected to start for the World team. A rain delay forced him to miss his appearance.

Tazawa was signed to a Major League contract last December after the Sox scouted him for over a year in Japan. He played for the Nippon Oil ENEOS of the Japan Industrial League. Tazawa posted a 13-1 record with five saves and 0.80 ERA in 21 games in 2008.

He is rated as the seventh-ranked prospect in the Red Sox organization by Baseball America.

Todd Civin is a freelance writer for the Bleacher Report and a supporter of A Glove of Their Own. He can be reached at [e-mail] for comment or hire.