In a move that is not going to get him much love from Red Sox Nation, Dice-K blamed the Red Sox training and throwing program for his struggles this season in an article in the Japanese media.
“If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan. The only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years [in the United States] was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan. Since I came to the Major Leagues, I couldn’t train in my own way, so now I’ve lost all those savings.”
He also goes on to say that MLB does not understand the training and conditioning methods of Japanese pitchers, causing their careers to flame out.
Even if his point is valid it is not going to sit well with fans who are frustrated with his recent performance.
UPDATE: Red Sox pitching coach John Farell calls out Dice-K’s offseason work:
“In hindsight, there might not have been the work that he needed to put in on his own time during the offseason to build the foundation that every pitcher requires to withstand the workloads that a major league starting pitcher is going to go through here in the States.”
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