A Month Late, Daisuke Matsuzaka Finally Faces Major League Hitters

It may be just 10 days before Opening Day, but for starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka—who has been sidelined by a series of aches and pains for a large portion of spring training—it’s much more akin to March 1.

Dice-K took his first steps towards becoming a contributing member of the rotation yesterday with two innings of work against the Florida Marlins, allowing a run on two hits in his outing.

It was the first time he faced major league hitters in live action this spring.

The next step? He is scheduled to follow Josh Beckett with three innings of work on Monday.

Of yesterday’s outing, Matsuzaka said he was just trying to get his work in:

“(T)oday, being my first game, I was thinking about how to approach it...and I think the most important thing was for me to be able to get into that game mindset, facing an opposing team and facing live hitters...

“I threw very few innings and my pitch count was low, but the workload and fatigue I experienced out there were (preferable to) what I can get on the side. I need to continue to face opposing hitters and get in that work with those matchups.”

He said he’s not certain how long it will be before he is ready to contribute in the regular season: “As for the length of time, I’m not sure how much more time I need. I just need to keep facing hitters and see how that goes.”

With Tim Wakefield healthy and pitching well in Florida, the team has the luxury of taking its time with Dice-K. Pitching coach John Farrell said the team will take the long view in getting Matsuzaka ready for the season: “He wasn’t as powerful today as he showed in the minor league game, but this is still basically the start of spring training for (him). You’re going to see the ebbs and flows to arm strength and action to stuff.”

He added: “We’ve talked at length and agreed that we aren’t going to skip any steps along the way in building (his) foundation. A two-inning stint is what everyone started, and we’ll build progressively.”

Yup—and the next step in the progression will be three innings on Monday.

“He used a good mix like he always does,” catcher Dusty Brown said. “He threw a couple of really good changeups, some cutters. We kind of used a little bit of everything.”