The Diceman Cometh*
Welcome back, Daisuke (Photo by Kelly O'Connor and used with permission)
Pretty much every team I had a rooting interest in last night lost. Yay, baseball.
Although there was a no-hitter last night. Six Seattle Mariners pitchers threw one against the Dodgers. I’m old school…any time the Dodgers lose it makes me happy but to see SIX pitchers from a third place team take the opportunity to no-hit the first place Dodgers…well that’s pretty special. Baseball didn’t completely hate me last night.
And today….well today we get Daisuke Matsuzaka back on the mound (at the expense of Marlon Byrd who was DFA’d last night to make room on the roster. So long, Marlon.) at 4 o’clock. Thankfully, the game isn’t on Fox so 1) we don’t have to deal with McCarver and Buck (that honor goes to anyone watching the Yankees/Mets game at 7pm) and 2) the game won’t be blacked out for those of you not within NESN’s reach. I’m excited to see Daisuke pitch. I’ll be more excited if his pitching ends up with a win.
*Yes I know I’m probably the 100th person to use that line but it’s early and being over original is too difficult for my brain right now.
I thought my man Daisuke did pretty well for his first outing back after TJ surgery. He threw strikes and showed the appropriate competitive poise throughout, even in the crappy 3-run inning. Lead-off walk that, of course, scores, but just ONE walk on the day, am I right? A VERY good sign for DM. I hate to say it because I like them BOTH, but given the epic struggles Daniel Bard’s been going through as he tries to make the transition into the starting role, even those folks out there who don’t think much of Daisuke (or are just exhausted from watching him nibble endlessly around the strike zone:-) would have to concede that at this point in time, he’s a solid upgrade in that slot. Dude is a starter. Not a workhorse starter who can go more than six innings, but definitely a starter and totally at home in the role. A solid #5 starter, and at his best, notably better than that. I’ve been thinking TJ surgery and a new bunch of coaches to bounce off of would enable Daisuke to make a good re-start for his career in MLB, and yesterday’s work seemed like a reasonably promising start on precisely that.
Female PA announcer at Fenway today! (At least in pre-game, but I assume that means she’s doing the game too.)
I was excited to find out they auditioned a woman. Hope she did well!
It’s been a painfully slow process but I like what I’m seeing. I think the talk of Daisuke’s demise have been greatly exaggerated!