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Daisuke Matsuzaka was so bad Friday night I thought he might be trying to be bad in order to get his release.  It was that terrible.  His first inning was a joke and to his credit, he pitched well in the 2nd and 3rd only to give it up again in the 4th and 5th.  After further evaluation, I think Matsuzaka wants to be here and pitch well, he is just struggling.

With John Smoltz here, ready and willing, the Red Sox can go with a 6-man rotation.  A 6-man rotation risks extra stress on the bullpen and certainly will annoy any starter with incentives based on innings pitched, strikeouts, etc.  More importantly a 6-man rotation just doesn't make sense.

I'm hoping the Matsuzaka accepts either a minor league assignment (he has to give the ok per his contract) and/or a DL rehab assignment.  That will give management time to evaluate Smoltz and Matsuzaka at the same time.

With Brad Penny showing some serious pop on his fastball, he has apparently become the top pitching trade target of teams in need.  The good news is that the Red Sox have this supposed glut of pitching, but if Matsuzaka can't figure it out, perhaps not.  Let's not forget Clay Buchholz.  He and Michael Bowden are knocking on Boston's door and will probably start to get wordy in their respective desires to get a promotion.

A good problem to have...right?  Right.

BTW, notice David Ortiz's move from 6th to 5th in the order the past 2 games?  Slight, yes, but a sign of improved confidence from Tito?  Yes.