Big Surprise: Dice-K Hid an Injury Last Year

And he hurt himself while training for the World Baseball Classic, so despite what Ichiro might say, we've got another injury to lay at the feet of the WBC. And he hid it from the Red Sox all year, but that's no surprise: players have to walk the line between developing a reputation as a wimp who hurts his team by resting every injury and playing so hurt they're under-performing, and they're going to make a decision here and there that looks terrible in retrospect. What's troubling about the story is that once again it was a Japanese media outlet that broke the story. Maybe Dice-K feels more comfortable talking to journalists when he doesn't need a translator - that seems to be the implication, anyway, because he keeps breaking these stories to journalists in Japan - but if he's going to make an announcement like this one, why not have a press conference and spread the word at large? It feels like he's either thinking word won't get back to the English language press, which is clearly ridiculous, because it keeps happening, or this particular admission - and every one he's made thus far - was something he admittedly only after some probing questioning, which suggests he didn't intend to tell the public in the first place.

Ichiro Should Be a Lawyer

Either this interview with Ichiro underwent some heavy cutting that cut all of the logic out of his argument, or he needs to work on his argument construction skills, because his reasoning for not blaming the WBC for Matsuzaka's arm woes doesn't make any sense:

“If you think that’s the reason he’s struggling right now, if people are blaming the WBC, that’s not very smart,” Suzuki said. “People who are saying that are using it for a reason just to have a reason. They’re not really thinking it through. I believe he thinks it’s not due to the WBC, too. People who say that are just grasping for a reason.”

So the real reason is...?

“I’m not his teammate. There’s no way I can know,” he said. “It’s especially hard because it’s not an injury. If there’s an injury, you accept it because there’s nothing you can do about it. The reason it’s such a struggle is because we don’t know what the reason is. It’s a struggle because the reason lies somewhere you can’t see. That’s why it’s so hard.”

Yeah, you sold me on that one, buddy. After reading a non-reason like that one, I'm totally going to stop blaming the WBC for Dice-K's injury this year, or Timlin and Varitek's injuries in 2006.

Surprise, Surprise: Dice-K on the DL

A bit of gloating today, because a.) I'm pleased I called Dice-K's return trip to the DL and b.) that return trip makes this guy look like an even bigger idiot for demanding his burying in an unmarked grave somewhere in the bullpen. Two things of interest from the article announcing the confirmation of Matsuzaka's injury:

1. The MRI results, which revealed that Matsuzaka's shoulder looks just as bad now as it did in April. That one surprises me, to be honest: I'm guessing that a lot of the decision making around whether or not to put a guy back on the roster revolves around he's reporting he feels, but I would still think that the team's medical staff would be giving out MRIs like candy if they thought it would tell them anything useful. From the article (which is admittedly short on detail), it sounds instead like Dice-K hasn't had an MRI since he first went on the DL and - concequently - the team could have avoided problems with a little more testing. Either way, if things haven't changed much since, I bet we don't see Matsuzaka again until late August.
   
   
2. Francona going on the record blaming the World Baseball Classic for the loss of his pitcher. If he's saying it publically, the management and the ownership are saying it privately...and that might mean the end of Bud Selig's promotional party, or at least thelevel of pro participation the first two iterations of the Classic enjoyed. Personally, while I enjoy the concept that the WBC represents, having seen its negative effect on two different Red Sox teams, I'd be happy for a change in the way participation works.

Is the WBC Tainted?

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I started thinking about how the sixth year of a decade has been a pretty tough one for Red Sox teams for the past 90 years: two World Series losses that formed part of the legend of futility, mixed with some cellar dwelling and a post-AL Championship hangover. 1996 featured the terrible start. 2006, as we remember all too well, was the year that a team with a hot start and post-season potential suffered injuries and massacres to limp into third place in a finish that was painful to behold.

2006 was also the year of the first World Baseball Classic. I enjoyed the games at the time, but when Varitek, Timlin, and other players started pulling up lame in the middle of the season, I could see why some could cast blame on Bud Selig and his crazy ideas. Three years later, we've another WBC. This time, one of our starting pitchers played a starring role, helping to capture another title for his home country while pitching a buttload of innings - almost five innings per start - a time when most pitchers are still stretching themselves out. Now he's fighting arm fatigue and a stint on the disabled list. I'm not saying the WBC is completely to blame, but it's certainly a very easy scapegoat and Dice-K on the DL will be another nail in the coffin in the minds of many fans.