Matsuzaka goes back on DL

Shoulder strain familiar diagnosis

By Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff  |  June 22, 2009

Coming off the mound Friday night, Daisuke Matsuzaka began to think about speaking with his coaching staff. He thought about it all night. And when he arrived to the ballpark Saturday, he learned they shared his desire to meet. So they did, determining that Matsuzaka needed an MRI, setting in motion steps that would lead to the pitcher back to the disabled list yesterday.

“Immediately after I came off of the mound, my thought was if I keep going like this, I’m just going to be a burden to this team and there’s no way I can keep going like that,’’ Matsuzaka said, through interpreter Masa Hoshino. “As time passed and I spent more time thinking about it, I reached the point where I really needed to approach the coaching staff and be prepared to say even from my end, to be taken out of the rotation. To be prepared for that.’’

He was told Saturday that would be the case, at least for the near future, and then was placed on the DL yesterday with a mild right shoulder strain, the same reason given when Matsuzaka went on the DL in April and missed five weeks.

The Sox called up catcher Dusty Brown from Pawtucket to fill the roster spot until John Smoltz comes off the DL Thursday to make his season debut.

Manager Terry Francona said Matsuzaka’s MRI from April and the one from Saturday showed no change.

“There was significant weakness that we want to get stronger,’’ Francona said. “So that’s what we’re going to attempt to do again . . . It was very obvious we would have to DL him. This is not going to be a two-week DL. We’re going to have to figure this out. We have a lot of work ahead of us trying to make this [better] again, get him back to being Daisuke, in a nutshell.’’

The Sox are placing the blame squarely on the World Baseball Classic. Although the pitcher said, “I have no regrets’’ about playing in the WBC, there are regrets on the part of the organization.

“I knew going in that this season I’d have to work hard through the WBC and throughout the regular season as well, and that’s the mentality I had going into the offseason as I was ramping up in my training,’’ Matsuzaka said. “It’s really my fault that I wasn’t able to do that effectively, so I have no intention of placing any blame on the WBC or using it as an excuse.’’

Francona thought differently.

“I know we, Major League Baseball, were behind [the WBC],’’ he said. “I’ve had enough conversations about trying to cooperate, have players play if they’re able, which I understand. Now saying that, we’re down a pitcher. You guys can talk all you want about having too much pitching. It’s an interesting story. We want to have a lot of pitching.

“This is a guy that . . . has won 33 games and 3 [postseason games] - 36 games in two years. And we don’t have him. So that’s hard. I just think we felt like if we would have had a chance to ramp him up in our spring training, we’d feel a lot better about him having a better foundation.’’

Francona emphasized that he’s seen Matsuzaka “trying to go down and reach in there and get to 93 [miles per hour] and he’s working for it, and so he’s not locating.’’ Though, he added, that’s clearly not the only problem. Francona said Matsuzaka needs to get to a place where pitching becomes easier again.

“Of course I’m not content or satisfied at all with my situation, but at the same time I think the depth of our pitching staff really gives me the opportunity to focus on myself 100 percent right now and work on what I need to do,’’ Matsuzaka said.

Although Tim Wakefield didn’t get the win yesterday, he continued his stretch of solid starts at home. Wakefield is undefeated in 10 straight home starts since September, going 8-0 with a 3.06 ERA in that stretch. Yesterday marked Wakefield’s 381st start for Boston, one short of tying Roger Clemens for the team record. “It wasn’t easy to pitch [yesterday],’’ Wakefield said. “The only thing that I had a problem with was the mist in my face. At times, and I told [pitching coach] John [Farrell], I know the wind was blowing in, but it was circling back. It was tough to see the plate at times. I remember throwing a couple pitches, and thinking hopefully they don’t hit it right at me because I can’t see it right now.’’ . . . Three Braves were ejected (manager Bobby Cox, third baseman Chipper Jones, and reliever Eric O’Flaherty), and some Sox also had words for plate umpire Bill Holm. Francona came out of the dugout at one point when Holm was arguing with Dustin Pedroia. “I didn’t want him to throw Pedey out,’’ Francona said. “He was yelling at Pedey. Pedey started yelling back. I’d rather him yell at me or at least talk to me, than yell at Pedey.’’

Jed Lowrie played in his first rehab game as he comes back from left wrist surgery. Playing for Pawtucket, the shortstop had three plate appearances (two walks, RBI) in a 5-3 loss at Durham, and was removed after 3 1/2 innings, as scheduled . . . Mike Lowell sat out a second straight game, with Mark Kotsay back at first and Kevin Youkilis shifted to third. “Because he keeps saying he’s OK, I probably went too long without giving him a blow, which is my mistake,’’ Francona said. “I think I’ll try to be more aware of that going in the future. But he’s OK.’’ . . . Brown arrived yesterday morning for his first major league call-up. “Hadn’t heard anything,’’ Brown said. “Nobody had gotten hurt, not that I knew of. It was just another day, then all of a sudden I get pulled out of the shower, get told I’m going to the big leagues. It was really exciting and definitely unexpected.’’ . . . The Sox will leave this afternoon for Washington . . . Nick Green’s homer was the Sox’ second walkoff hit this season. Youkilis beat the Yankees April 24 with an 11th-inning homer . . . The Sox have won their last four series.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.