Dice-K v2.0

Daisuke Matsuzaka won again last night. That puts him at 6-0 on the season. Aside from issuing an alarming amount of walks (30 so far, 8 in his previous outing--which he won), his 2008 numbers are impressive.

In just under 43 innings, he's given up only 28 hits and 13 earned runs while striking out 40 batters for an ERA of 2.45, which is fourth best in the American League.

This is clearly a different Dice-K than last year's rookie edition. Funny, but as he continues undefeated, I haven't heard a peep from his chorus of detractors about the $105 million that was "wasted" on Japan's greatest pitcher. People were getting so up in arms last year that you'd think those who were complaining were the ones who wrote that infamous posting fee check of $51,111,111.11 instead of John W. Henry.

Salary is never talked about when a player is delivering. When he falters, however, it's the main topic of conversation. We're all guilty of it, myself included. Case in point: Julio Lugo. The blogs and forums these days are full of frustrated and angry fans (of a first place team, mind you) who are leading off their online gripes with "I can't believe we're paying this guy $9 million a year!" (I love the "we" fans. "We" should have won last night. "We" should have been more aggressive on the base paths. "We" should have taken Lester out in the 6th. "We" should have signed Johan Santana, etc. Sorry, tangent. That's another post for another day.)

If Dice-K can cut his walk total in half, what the Red Sox have is a solid number two starter for this year and in all probability, a co-ace (along with Josh Beckett) for the next seasons to follow as Matsuzaka continues his steady transition from Japanese to American baseball.