Farrell, Sox seek openness from Matsuzaka

January 15, 2010|Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff

At this point in their relationship with Daisuke Matsuzaka, it’s difficult to say that the Red Sox have confidence in the communication. Having been twice burned - when Matsuzaka made comments last summer about his training regimen in the United States, and a week ago when a Japanese magazine published an interview in which he disclosed an injury suffered prior to the 2009 World Baseball Classic - it’s understandable that pitching coach John Farrell shied away from definitive statements about whether this might happen again.

“I think the one thing that we strive to do, and go to great lengths, is to put a player in the best position possible to have success,’’ Farrell said before last night’s Boston Baseball Writers Association dinner, “and that takes an openness on all parts to accomplish that.’’

Farrell confirmed that the Sox found out about the groin injury only when the article was published, long after such knowledge could have helped them with Matsuzaka’s fractured 2009 season.

In the interview, translated by the Globe’s Daigo Fujiwara, Matsuzaka admitted that he hurt his right groin last January during hip strengthening exercises, which caused him to consider pulling out of the WBC. He did not, taking anti-inflammatories to treat the pain.

“Fortunately I was in charge of my own training, so if it started to hurt, I could adjust to not hurt myself,’’ Matsuzaka was quoted as saying. “But pitching while hiding the injury was very difficult. Even when I didn’t feel the pain, my body was holding back because it sensed the danger.’’

Matsuzaka said he gained weight because he wasn’t able to run with the injury. His conditioning was a major point of contention with the Sox last season, as they had Matsuzaka spend much of the summer in Fort Myers, Fla., working on his training.

And while it appeared that the Sox and Matsuzaka had come to an understanding after that point, the recent article might have been a step back.

“I think when it comes out after the fact, there is some [frustration] there, but I know that as a competitor he wanted to be on the mound and he didn’t want any other distractions,’’ Farrell said. “Let’s put it this way: If he felt that he couldn’t pitch because of it, that clearly would have come out at the time.

“We didn’t see anything in video. We didn’t see anything in his delivery. There was some reference, at times when he didn’t fully finish or have a follow-through that was similar. But I thought that to be more core strength, [rather] than the groin, as a possibility. That was just my own evaluation.