Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka flies to Japan for possible treatment – MLB News
The Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona has confirmed that his team’s starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is staying in his native country of Japan for the past few days.
The news came a few days after Matsuzaka was reported to have been diagnosed with sprained ulnar collateral ligament and strained flexor in his pitching elbow.
The news was obviously a bit surprising, if not shocking given the fact that Boston could not save the game on Monday, 23 May when they lost their game to the Cleveland Indians 3-2. There were speculations as to what took Matsuzaka to Japan.
While rumours had it that he went to his native country for an operation, Francona was quick to dismiss the news. "[He is in Japan for] a personal matter ... He had permission from us to go back home," Francona said. "He is not going to have surgery. We
made that decision for him to go home a while back."
Because the injury is in his pitching elbow, Matsuzaka needs an expert view to find a panacea to it. Dr. Lewis Yocum is said to be the physician Matsuzaka is expected to see soon. "He has an appointment scheduled with Dr. Yocum coming up," Francona said
in Cleveland. "Diasuke has been really good about all this."
The Japanese pitcher, representing Boston, has been going through a lot of injuries for quite a while now. If history is anything to go by, a look at his last few years’ record will substantiate it.
Matsuzaka found himself ending up in disabled list twice in the last two seasons he played for Red Sox. Back in 2009, the strained right forearm and neck strain deprived him of appearing in regular features, as it reduced him to only 25 starts, that too
with difficulty.
However, one of the most expensive players of an exorbitant franchise, Matsuzaka was paid no less than 103-million-dollars to bring him from Japan in 2007. The injured player is in the second last year of six-year contract he signed with the Red Sox.
In 2008, his strained rotator cuff could not stop him from winning a career high 18 wins. The player, who has faced injuries invariably, has been equally good with his performances.
Tags: