Pretty Good Daisuke, Pretty Good

After causing a major panic from his March 11th “bombing”, Daisuke Matsuzaka threw quite the gem yesterday. He struck out 7, while allowing only 1 walk and 1 hit in 5 and 2/3’s innings of work against the Pirates. This no doubt gave Red Sox fans that warm fuzzy feeling that was sorely lacking the 10 days in between Daisuke’s starts.

While we learned last week that his March 11th start was fairly typical of high priced pitchers, the 7 strikeouts he recorded yesterday was a rare feat indeed. There were only nine times this spring that a pitcher has struck out seven or more batters:

Ian Snell – Way back on March 6th, Snell threw 3 innings while striking out 7. Snell showed a lot of promise last year and this spring he’s showing why he’ll be the ace of the Pirates pitching staff (even if no one knows who he is).

Rich Harden – On March 15th the oft-injured Harden threw just 3-plus innings and struck out 9. Then he struck out 7 on March 20th in 5 innings. Overall, Harden has struck out 25 batters in a mere 13 innings of work this spring. Please stay healthy this year! There’s nothing I enjoy more than watching the Ks pile up.

Oliver Perez – He matched Harden on March 15th with 9 strikeouts, but it took him 5 innings to do it. He’s having a fine spring and he was dazzling to watch just three years ago. Perhaps he’ll find some of his 2004 magic in the Mets rotation this season.

Aaron Harang – Three days after Harden and Perez fanned 9, so did Harang. His spring has not been so stellar. He’s given up 28 hits which sets his H/9 at a mere 17-something. On the bright side, he’s still striking out a batter-an-inning, and has given up zero walks.

Scott Kazmir – He struck out 7 in five plus innings of work on March 18th. Yet he’s walked 6 in 12-plus innings so far this spring. It will be interesting to see if he can recapture the much improved control he exhibited in 2006.

Brett Myers – He also struck out 7 on March 18th. He’s one of those guys who took the off-season “seriously” by shedding 25 pounds off his frame. He’s mentioned that he’s been a bit “uncomfortable” pitching at his new weight, but the discomfort isn’t showing in his stats.

Josh Beckett – The 2006 home run king struck out 8 on March 20th. He’s only given up a single home run in 16-plus innings this spring. He’s also given up just a single walk while he’s struck out 17 batters.