Under strict orders not to swing when at the plate, even informing the umpire and Dodgers catcher, Russell Martin, that he wasn’t swinging, Daisuke Matsuzaka managed to draw a walk in his only plate appearance. Unfortunately for Matsuzaka, this was the only chance he did get to bat in the game as mother nature didn’t cooperate and the game was rained out after two innings.
Up to the point of the rain delay and subsequent rainout, Dice-K had only thrown 34 pitches, 20 which were strikes. Again, he got into a little trouble as he gave up a lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt, and a bloop single which allowed the run the score.
After the game was called, Dice-K managed to get some more work in the cages, throwing another 77 pitches in a simulated 5 innings. This got his throwing up to about 100 pitches which is normal at this point in spring training for most pitchers.
Well at this point of spring training, there is a lot of work still to do for him. He still is learning the American strike zone and this will take time to adjust for him. He has been working on his pitches a lot, and I only expect he will get better as spring training draws to a close in the next few weeks. As far as him batting, we won’t have to worry about that until interleague play starts up in June. Interleague play actually starts up in May, but the Red Sox are home to face the Atlanta Braves so if he is scheduled to pitch, he won’t have to bat since it’s in an American League park.
