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Dice-K Injury: Weak Right Shoulder

Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka’s really rough season could be attributable to a weak right shoulder. Dice-K will skip his next turn in the rotation (making way for John Smoltz) and could wind up on the disabled list due to the injury.

Terry Francona said an MRI on Dice-K’s shoulder showed no structural damage, but indicated a weakness. “We’re going to have to fix it. It’s going to have to be addressed,” he said.

Dice-K never really recovered after his dominant performance in March’s World Baseball Classic. Without a proper spring training to slowly build his arm strength, Dice-K’s season thus far has been ruined, first due to fatigue, then ineffectiveness, and now a weak shoulder.

“It all started with the WBC. It’s become obvious that his velocity wasn’t what it was,” Francona said.

In eight starts this year, Dice-K is 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA.

Reaction: Give Dice-K a lot of rest to get his arm strength back. After he rests, then send him to extended spring training to build up more arm strength so he can pitch in the majors effectively again.

Let’s hope that the Red Sox don’t allow Dice-K to pitch for Japan in the 2012 World Baseball Classic, but for now we must be concerned with 2009.

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox