Dice-K Down Plays Back Injury
Good news Red Sox fans – Dice-K is not too concerned with his latest back injury that has sidelined him early this spring. Matsuzaka is dealing with some middle-upper back soreness that has delayed his throwing program for a few days. He still expects to make the 2010 MLB season his best in a Red Sox uniform. Matsuzaka described the condition in this manner: “I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an injury, really. I think, going into the offseason last year, I really didn’t take a break, and I got right back into a training program. So I think it was just a little bit of fatigue that built up over that time period… I definitely don’t want to make the same mistakes that were made last year, so right now, I think it’s important for me to talk about my condition and share that with the team in as much details as possible.”
That is also good news. The winter offseason training regimen seems to have paid dividends already for Matsuzaka. He looks a lot stronger and trimmer and he appears poised to have a “bounce-back” year for the Red Sox in 2010. If he does, it could be a long summer for the rest of the teams in the American League. With a dominating Dice-K in the 4th starting pitching role and an up-and-coming star like Clay Buchholz in the 5th starting spot, the Red Sox are going to have one of the deepest rotations in the game today…
