I was lucky enough to catch Matsuzaka’s start on ESPN today. Unfortunately Dan Shulman and I were subject to Steve Philips and Orel Hershiser as the color guys. When Dickie V visited the booth Dan and I both looked at him some serious puppy dog eyes, if my choices are Philips and Orel I’m firmly pro-Vitale.

First Inning:

He started Chris Duffy out with a fastball at 91 spotted well on the outside corner, then promptly hit him with a slider on the thigh. Remember to breathe Zach, its only a spring training start. Wouldn’t you feel silly if you had an aneurysm during a meaningless game? After hanging a few to shortstop Don Kelly he looked great on a 2-0 curve for a strike. Very nice pitch. I like that he stuck with a pitch that wasn’t working and got it figured out quickly instead of scrapping it for the inning. Adam LaRoche drove Duffy in on a line drive to right that J.D. trapped rather awkwardly. Off the bat I didn’t think he’d have a chance at catching it, nice jump. I’ve moved Jason Bay down a few spots on my fantasy draft board after his performance today. Ball, called fastball strike, middle-in fastball fouled back, big whiff on a 83 MPH breaking ball. Daisuke isn’t firing on all cylinders, but he got outs.

Watch for the MLB 07: The Show video game commercial with the fish tossing. Instant classic.

Second: A few nasty sliders to Jose Batista mixed in with some more hanging breaking balls. I have a lot of trouble discerning pitch type because his velocity and movement varies so much. Hershisher makes a comment about Diasuke being unimpressive so far. At this point I agree, he got three outs, but everything was hit hard. He wasn’t spotting his fastball, but a few curves fell off the table.

Farrell Interview in top of the third:
-Diasuke likes to establish all his pitches in the first inning, not work in patterns.
-His heavy workload and marathon bullpen sessions are a product of the 6 man rotation. He’s used to it so he’ll stick with it for now.
-Occasionally he’ll work up in the zone with his fastball but everything will be down normally.
-He has 2-3 above average pitches. One variation of his changeup might be the gyroball everyone’s been talking about.
-He’s right where he needs to be at this point and doing very well speaking English.

I was very impressed with how articulate and graceful Farrell spoke. He can hold a room.

Third: GYROBALL ALERT! GYROBALL ALERT! After embarrassing Gorzellany at the plate Duffy’s second at bat was a battle. The eighth and ninth pitches were odd 88 MPH splitter/screwball things that Philips and Hershiser agreed were changeups that broke like a screwball. Anyway, it was nasty. Also an environmentalist, Diasuke picked up some trash that was blowing around the mound. FYI: I wouldn’t touch the trash blowing around in the Bronx. He’s retired seven in a row to this point. 39 pitches, 28 strikes.

Fourth: He was the best I’ve seen him in the fourth. He hit 96 (!) on the ESPN gun after getting pissed off about a call not going his way. Chill out kid, its still March. He struck out LaRoche after falling behind and battling back with a mix of pitches. Bay looked overmatched and was shown a seat in the dugout after three pitches: 77, 88, and 93 MPH. 10 in a row.

Fifth: During a dugout interview, LaRoche says Matsuzaka’s changeup is “phenomenal.” He’s operated a little lower in his velocity range in this inning, dipping down into the mid-70s with more frequency but playing it off the 93 MPH fastball that has suddenly found the corners. A nice 79 MPH knee buckler to Jose Batista elicited some laughter. I must proceed with caution in this area, but during 99 and 2000 it was more fun to watch the team in the field than at the plate during Pedro’s starts. Just sayin’. Hinske flashed the leather on a screamer up the first bast line then smacked the bag from his stomach with emphasis.

Sixth: Paraphrased dugout interview with Lowell: it wasn’t his best stuff, but he got it done. When do we get to see the good stuff? I’m salivating. Tito pulled him after his seventh strikeout in a long at bat for Kelly. That conference on the mound was high comedy. Smiles all around, awkward bowing and pats on the butt.

By the way, Orel is convinced. Get ready, Red Sox Nation.

5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 7 Ks

Edit: thanks Mouse. How’d my editor miss that one? Oh right, cause I’m my editor.