Famed Red Sox import gets hit hard for first time

	Daisuke Matsuzaka has an ERA of 5.45 after his first six major-league starts. AP

Are you ready to admit your preseason hype fest of Daisuke Matsuzaka was a mistake?
-- Eric Skelly, Boston

No, not a total mistake just yet. But I will say this: I was wrong about Matsuzaka being an early season dominating pitcher. I thought the deception in his delivery and his off-speed stuff would make him a tough read for hitters. Instead, I think what has happened is that Matsuzaka, who cruised through lineups in Japan, is having a very hard time dealing with getting hit and watching great hitters lay off his pitches out of the strike zone. The guy has never been hit in his life, and this can't be easy for him. You've seen, though, that he is a great competitor. At least three times this year he's had an awful, long inning and managed to get himself back on track and pitch well. I still think he can finish with 15 wins and a 3.50 ERA.

I was reading your latest article about the top 10 players under 25 and noticed you made one omission. Dodgers catcher Russell Martin is one of the best players in baseball, especially of the under-25 club. I see you live in Jersey, but stay up once and watch this kid play, you'll realize the error you made.
-- Gabe, Los Angeles

I've seen Martin play and like him a lot, especially the way he seems to have good at-bats in tough spots. Very impressive for a young player. I like a lot of things about him, but I don't see him becoming a big home run hitter or high average hitter. You can definitely make a case for him if you like in the honorable mention group. I considered him borderline with those guys.

I never hear it mentioned but I think one of the major reasons for young pitchers, like Mark Prior, breaking down is the excessive amount of pitching they do growing up. AAU baseball and traveling baseball are much more popular then they were in the '50s. Playing baseball all summer, potentially pitching more than 100 innings as a 12-year-old, and throwing breaking balls before ones tendons and ligaments are fully developed is a recipe for disaster later in their careers.
-- Sa, Chicago

I do agree with you. I coach youth baseball myself and I believe kids 12 and under should not be throwing curveballs. Our team went to the 10-year-old Cal Ripken World Series and we played teams from warm weather states who were letting 10-year-old kids throw six-inning complete games. I stress the changeup as an off-speed pitch. I've talked with Mike Mussina about this, too, and he agrees that we're losing our best pitchers before the good arms ever get a chance to get into the professional pipeline.

In response to Joe P. from Vegas, the Japanese have clearly shown us the ability to ruin pitchers by the time they're 30. I can't recall a starter from Japan being worth much of anything past 30. These guys burn their arms up throwing high pitch counts and that's with an extra day's rest in Japan. Look up pitchers in Japan the past several years, not very many there last much beyond 30. Its absurd to even think workload isn't what caused problems for Prior. Kerry Wood on the other hand had horrible mechanics from the start and the heavy workload was the nail in the coffin for him.
-- Anthony, Tacoma, Wash.

Good points, especially how bad mechanics and exacerbate the workload problem. Wood getting pushed is a lot different than, say, David Wells or Greg Maddux, who had great mechanics and still do. I'm still curious from a data point of view, not just anecdotally, if there are many older pitchers in Japan pro baseball. As bad as our development system is here, we still have a ton of guys 35-and-older pitching in the big leagues. Is the percentage of such pitchers much lower in Japan? Drop me a line if you've seen such a study.