A strain for staff: Matsuzaka goes on DL

Manager Terry Francona pulled Matsuzaka from his Tuesday start after a one-inning meltdown in which the righthander allowed five runs on five hits and two walks. Matsuzka's velocity topped out at 88 miles per hour, and the team labeled his problem "arm fatigue" Tuesday night.

After his start, Matsuzaka seemingly disagreed with Francona that anything was physically wrong with him. After speaking yesterday morning in the manager's office, Francona said they had reached agreement.

"It's still early in the season, so I want to take this in a positive light," Matsuzaka said through translator Masa Hoshino. "I respect and appreciate the ball club's decision to give me time to deal with my fatigue, and I'm going to do everything I can to get back to where I need to be as soon as possible. I'm glad it's early, and the only thing I can do is move forward."

After speaking with trainer Mike Reinold, "I don't think there's an injury," Francona said. "It just looks like there's some fatigue. Kind of like last year, where he's got to build it back up and feel good about himself. I don't think he said today he felt real good about himself.

"Contrary to what Daisuke said last night, I think he understands it. I think sometimes guys say some things when they're trying to compete. We just want him to be able to be Daisuke, not be part of Daisuke. We'll put him on the DL. We'll have him looked at Friday, and then we'll put our heads together and see what the best way is to get him where he can make all his starts and be good."

The Sox recalled reliever Hunter Jones as a stopgap for the bullpen Matsuzaka's early exit left in tatters. The club will likely replace Jones with another pitcher from its minor league system for the duration of Matsuzaka's stay on the disabled list.

Matsuzaka's next start is scheduled for Monday. Because of Josh Beckett's suspension and subsequent appeal, the Sox have not decided who will take Matsuzaka's place. Justin Masterson, who threw 60 pitches in four innings in relief of Matsuzaka Tuesday, is a prime candidate.

"If it's something that's needed, of course," Masterson said late Tuesday. "I think so. Having gone through that routine, if needed, I'd be ready for that."

In two starts this season, Matsuzaka is 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA. In 6 1/3 innings, he has allowed 14 hits, 5 walks, 3 home runs, and 9 earned runs while striking out five. Francona indicated yesterday that the team feels Matsuzaka's issues derived from his preparation for the WBC.

Matsuzaka won his second MVP award after pitching Japan to its second title. He won all three of his starts and posted a 2.45 ERA. But the success came with a toll. His pitch counts soared while other Red Sox pitchers progressed under the team's careful watch.

The Sox tried to monitor Matsuzaka from Fort Myers, Fla., and by having team personnel travel with him to Japan. Francona frequently mentioned the difficulty the arrangement presented. The Red Sox could do only so much to ensure Matsuzaka was not overexerting himself too early.

"I don't know that we know for sure," Francona said. "We're 6,000 miles away, and we tried to get a feel for what he's doing without overstepping our bounds. I don't know if we always made other people over there feel like we weren't overstepping. That's a tough one for me."

Once Matsuzaka returned to the Sox with roughly two weeks left before the season, the team did not notice any serious strain.

"That's hard to tell," Francona said. "He's coming off of a game where he's pitching his heart out with a lot of emotion. And then you come back to a spring training game. So I think it's somewhat maybe expected. But we like to keep our eyes on guys all spring and watch them build up, because we can watch the progression.

"It's frustrating. We knew going in. We talked about it. It's there. You do the best you can. We've had a tough week to boot, and now we lose a pitcher. We're not thrilled about it. What are you going to do?"

Matsuzaka will spend time on the DL for the second consecutive season. Last year, he missed nearly all of June with a rotator cuff injury. The way this injury affected Matsuzaka, Francona said, reminds him of last year's. The difference was the ease of communication.

"He grasps my English better than he used to," Francona said. "He gets enough of the baseball terms. He didn't have to take quite as long for Masa to explain it to him. And quite frankly, I think he agreed."

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com.