The Ol' Ballfield

A Daisuke Matsuzaka Post

For those unaware, Daisuke Matsuzaka is the next big thing from Japan. A righty with a low-to-mid-90s fastball and much heralded "Gyroball", he first gained international attention after being named MVP of the World Baseball Classic this spring. His Japanese team, the Seibu Lions, is putting the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka up for bid; the winning bid is expected to be between $20-30 million. Earlier today Mariners' owner Hiroshi Yamauchi announced that Seattle would not take part in the bidding. Matsuzaka is represented by Scott Boras. Yay.

These are Matsuzaka's career stats with Seibu:

Year    Team    W     L     IP       H    ER     BB      K    ERA
1999    SL      16    5    180      124   52     87     151  2.60
2000    SL      14    7    167⅔     132   74     95     144  3.97
2001    SL      15   15    240⅓     184   96    117     214  3.60
2002    SL       6    2     73⅓      60   30     15      78  3.68
2003    SL      16    7    194      165   61     63     215  2.83
2004    SL      10    6    146      165   47     42     127  2.90
2005    SL      14   13    215      172   55     49     226  2.30
2006    SL      17    5    186⅓     138   44     34     200  2.13

Sorry for the formatting. But whatever font you're reading, that is an impressive career for someone that just turned 26. As Jeff Sackmann put it, it's like Johan Santana, only younger. Those numbers have to be taken in the context of Japanese baseball, generally thought to be between the level of AAA and the majors. Sackmann penned a good article for the Hardball Times about just what they might translate to, and therefore how much Matsuzaka is worth.

But what got me interested in Matsuzaka was not his numbers... it was that breaking ball. Here's a highlight reel from (what I think was) a 14-strikeout complete-game shutout this May:



They seem to first be highlighting the fastball, which has some zip, even if it's no Rivera cutter. But watch the break on the pitch that comes at around 0:47, and the two after that. Is that not the definition of niz-asty? It has the break of a Barry Zito curve, but goes almost 85 mph.

If the Yankees don't win the war for Matsuzaka, they're idiots (which I think they are, but not such idiots). Major leaguers know what Zito's curve looks like. That "gyroball", or whatever the hell it is, will light some pants on fire.

posted by Carnival @ 11/01/2006