Daisuke Matsuzaka Back On Red Sox Roster

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In the days leading up to the start, Matsuzaka had been bothered by discomfort in his neck and didn’t throw a side session. He was confident he could get through it and give his team a chance to win.

As it turns out, he didn’t even come close, and the Red Sox suffered a 6-1 loss to the A’s.

Matsuzaka pitched one-plus inning, giving up four hits and five runs while walking two and striking out none and throwing a career-low 28 pitches.And it wasn’t just his neck bothering him:

So this should come as no surprise:

There hasn’t been much news about Dice-K since then, but he must have gotten ready in the meantime, because:

We’ll find out why or why not on Saturday.

Sounds good(ish)! Call him up, right? Hold on just a bit. From the Boston Globe:

‘‘I feel the same way as Bobby. I’m not ready to pitch in the majors yet, especially after an outing like my previous outing,’’ Matsuzaka said. ‘‘But if I’m able to consistently pitch like I did today, then I don’t think my return to the majors is that far away.’’Nice and prudent. Matsuzaka is running out of time, though. From MLB.com:

According to this Boston Globe article, Dice-K will make his third rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket; he’s expected to make five rehab starts in all, which would mean it could be mid- to late-May before he’s back pitching in Boston.

Well, surprise!

Matsuzaka threw four innings and allowed three runs, which would make him the most effective starter in the Boston rotation right now. His fastball touched 94 m.p.h., and he threw 57 pitches in the game before throwing 13 more in the bullpen.

Last night, it was stated that Red Sox righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka was “leaning” toward having Tommy John surgery. Today, via tweet from SI.com’s Jon Heyman, we learn that it’s official:

Recovery from TJ surgery can take quite a long time, perhaps up to 18 months. The Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg, who had TJ surgery early last September, isn’t expected back until next season. Matsuzaka will miss the rest of this season and probably all of 2012.

Matsuzaka’s elbow sprain was re-evaluated by Dr. Lewis Yocum, and Yocum reportedly found sufficient damage to recommend surgery, meaning the tear in Matsuzaka’s ligament is bad, if not complete.

So now Matsuzaka and the Red Sox will consider their options, but if Matsuzaka’s ligament tear is as significant as it sounds, there’s not a whole lot they can do. You can’t really rehab a badly torn UCL.

In other words, Matsuzaka will continue rehabbing his elbow, rather than going under the knife. There’s no guarantee that this approach works out in the end, but the Red Sox would prefer to avoid surgery if at all possible.

The good news for the Red Sox is that Matsuzaka has been feeling better of late. That said, there’s still no timetable for his return to action, and it might be wise not to count on Matsuzaka for anything over the rest of the year.

Contrary to a report from SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Daisuke Matsuzaka does not need Tommy John surgery. Manager Terry Francona said on Monday that Matsuzaka, currently on the disabled list with a right elbow strain in his ulnar collateral ligament, will receive a second opinion later this month from Dr. Lewis Yocum in California.The good news: no surgery. The bad news: you usually don’t get second opinions for something minor, like tennis elbow.

Today, via tweet from Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com, we learn that this elbow stiffness is “consistent” with a strained ligament, and that Matsuzaka won’t be re-examined for “two weeks”, which would basically mean the entire length of the DL stint.

If a pitcher isn’t “re-examined” until his DL time is just about up, that likely means several more weeks before he’s ready to pitch again; that is, if surgery isn’t needed. It may be quite some time before the Japanese right-hander sees game action again.