Quote of the Day: Farrell on Daisuke, WBC

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, on Daisuke Matsuzaka’s chances of pitching again this season after landing on the disabled list with shoulder weakness:

Our every intention will be to get him back this year. Now, I say
that with no end time frame that says on August 1, he’s going to be
back in our rotation. There are going to be objectives that he’s going
to have to meet along the way here both in terms of strength and
conditioning, both from a body standpoint and from a shoulder
standpoint. … I think it’s important to clarify, there are reports
out there that Daisuke is suffering from a sore shoulder. That is far
from the truth.

He does have some deficiencies in strength that goes back to the
preparation for a full season that in this case has not been afforded.
And when you ramp up too quick, you fatigue it, and then trying to come
back, you’re working it to get back in shape and there’s just not ample
time or format to do that. Fortunately with [John] Smoltz coming to us,
we have that time on our side and we’re going to take the time needed
to get Daisuke right to the pitcher he was the past two years.

In other words, don’t expect to see Matsuzaka any time soon. His injury
allows Boston to add John Smoltz to the rotation without having to
trade Brad Penny and the Red Sox’s incredible pitching depth–along
with Smoltz and Penny, they also have Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden
at Triple-A–leaves them with no real incentive to bring Matsuzaka back
before he’s clearly ready.

Interestingly, Farrell went on to blame the World Baseball Classic
for Matsuzaka’s shoulder problems, saying: “I think it’s clear now that
there have been two of these tournaments, that the season performances
of the pitchers who participate in that tournament take a step
backward. It’s not just Daisuke.”