Anyone who followed Dice-K’s mediocre September, and compared his sub-six-inning post season starts to Jon Lester’s single appearance could wonder if the Red Sox really needed him. From August 16 through September 22, they could have just as well pitched Julian Tavarez. Maybe they could have saved eight million.
And maybe they could have sat out the playoffs. The importance of Matsuzaka wasn’t just his sterling first half statistics, but the fact that those statistics didn’t accrue to the Yankees. With Matsuzaka, the Yankees easily win five more games. Take a look at their first half and you see multiple losses by guys like Danks and DeSalvo, not to mention Igawa. Different story with Matsuzaka.
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