Matsuzaka catching up

Jason Varitek was very honest after his battery mate Daisuke Matsuzaka went out and threw six scoreless innings Tuesday night in his return to the majors after three months sidelined with shoulder fatigue. The Red Sox captain admitted he, like everyone else, didn’t know what to expect.

” I don’t see how anybody (doesn’t have nerves),” Varitek said of what he was feeling as he got ready to catch the Red Sox righty. “You play your first spring training game you have a little nerves. You play your first game you haven’t played in a little while, you have a little nerves. I can’t speak for him but nerves, excitement, all the above, I had them, too. I didn’t know what (to expect).”

For the first time since catching him on June 19 in a loss to the Atlanta Braves, Varitek had the chance to see first-hand how much Matsuzaka had improved.

And it was clear to see for all, including Varitek, from the first pitch in the first inning that Matsuzaka was locating his fastball for strikes. That first pitch was a strike to Angels leadoff man Chone Figgins. The irony was that he went up 0-2 before losing him to a walk on seven pitches. But still Varitek had reason to feel optimistic.  

“You have to focus and best utilize what he has and it wasn’t like he was spiking his fastball,” Varitek said. “He just missed barely with Figgins. That was good to see. Sometimes you make a pitch at the wrong time. He had decent life on his fastball and resulted in some better locations. It was very nice to see.”

Matsuzaka allowed just three hits, while walking three and striking out five in six innings.

“Obviously, he did a good job,” Varitek said. “He was strong and he gave us a quality start more than anything, results aside.”

But as Varitek is very capable of doing, he put Matsuzaka’s impressive outing in perspective, with a clear vision for the near-future. Obviously, Varitek and the Red Sox are hopeful Tuesday means that Matsuzaka could help immensely come October.

“You can’t put everything into one start because he had to get out there and get a feel,” Varitek said. “It could have just as well have went the other way. The good thing was he was strong, you saw depth on his breaking balls, his cutter, his slider and threw some good changeups. Most importantly, he refined and was able to use his fastball in good quality locations.”

Afterward, Matsuzaka said he wanted badly to go out and regain the trust of his teammates after the roughest year of his three to date in a Red Sox uniform. At 1-5 coming in, Matsuzaka felt he had something to prove about his dedication to his craft. To Varitek, the proof was in the performance.

“Obviously, we haven’t had the opportunity t0 see him everyday but physically, he looks like his put himself in good shape, he looks strong even when you see him on the side playing catch. It was nice to see for him but everybody forgets this guy won us 18 games last year,” Varitek said. “It was nice for him to go out there and finally have some results.”