So when he took to the mound Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, nobody really knew what to expect. What they got was a masterful performance from Matsuzaka, which was enough to earn him Amica Pitcher of the Week honors.
Matsuzaka looked the part of a big league veteran on Tuesday, giving up just three hits and one run over seven innings. Most important, though, was his total number of walks: zero. The nine strikeouts didn't hurt either.
"It’s not easy to have an outing like this every time, and it’s not easy to maintain this level of pitching," he said through an interpreter after the game. "But I think I went into the offseason with this sort of pitching as my goal. I was able to do that for the first time tonight."
Though he walked six batters in his previous 10 innings this season, manager Terry Francona attributed his improved command to something that's not mechanical.
"He held the fastball from the first inning through the seventh, Francona said after the 6-1 Red Sox win. "He was aggressive and confident in his fastball and it showed."