After stuffing myself with Greek food at the Taxiarchae Church Festival last night, I watched Matsuzaka pitch against the Padres. It was evident throughout the whole game that Dice-K is still adjusting to baseball in the states. Here are some of the things he needs to mentally adjust to make the jump from a solid 2/3 pitcher to an ace:
1.A little more reliance on the fastball. Many teams have the Moneyball approach now and are patient at the plate. Thus, they don’t swing at a lot of breaking balls and Dice-K breaking stuff is off the plate a lot for balls. His fastball is in the low 90s and he spots it well. He should use it more to avoid walks especially against crappy hitting teams like San Diego.
2.Remember that many American umpire are egotistical and have their “own strike zone.” He still seems to get annoyed when he does not get the call at the corners. Most umps if they sense that you are frustrated with them start shrinking the strike zone even more.
3.Remember that Francona will not actually let you throw 150 pitches. Last night after he threw 121 through 6 innings he reportedly told Francona he wanted to stay in the game which is perfectly logical. Unfortunately, it is not logical in 2007 pitch count mentality. If he wants to go 8 or 9, he needs to conserve his pitches early in the inning.  In this respect, a lead of single is actually better then a lead of walk
Overall, everyone should be happy with what Matsuzaka has accomplished so far. He has given the sox at least 6 (usually quality innings) nearly every start which is one of the reasons the bull pen is still strong. He currently stands 4th in the league in wins and 3rd in the league in strikeouts. In addition his era is 4.01 which is solid for someone who pitches in the A.L. East.