It's always risky in baseball to try to glean too much from the results of one game. But if Tuesday night is any indication, the Red Sox may be onto something with Tazawa.
For a 23-year-old rookie who pitched in his first professional baseball game on April 9, Tazawa showed wisdom beyond his years on Tuesday night, giving the Red Sox five strong innings in their 7-5 win over Detroit. He allowed just one earned run — if not for a botched double-play attempt in the first inning, it'd have been zero — on four hits.
Tazawa showed confidence and poise that you rarely see from a rookie in Fenway Park. Amid all the chaos around him — the purpose pitches, the fights, the ejections — Tazawa never lost his focus. He did nothing but pitch.
After the bench-clearing brawl that broke out in the bottom of the second inning, Tazawa was the one man at Fenway Park who never lost his cool. All he did was retire nine of the last 10 batters he faced. He left with a 6-3 lead and the Sox never looked back, earning Tazawa his first major league win.
That brings his record to 1-1. Tazawa is the only pitcher alive who can say his major league debut was taking the mound in the 14th inning of a 0-0 game in Yankee Stadium — and he'll probably never forget how that ended. With the image of Alex Rodriguez's blast into the bullpens in left-center burned into his mind, it's hard to believe Tazawa could bounce back four days later and earn a win.
But that appears to be the kind of pitcher Tazawa is. He's shown the resolve needed to be a contributor for these Red Sox down the stretch.
And that being the case, his presence will work wonders for the rehab efforts of the Sox pitchers not currently in the rotation.
Tazawa is here because Tim Wakefield, recovering from a lower back strain, is still on the way back to full strength. Daisuke Matsuzaka, currently nursing a shoulder injury, is still in rehab. Paul Byrd, fresh out of retirement, is still working on a comeback.
If Tazawa is the real deal, then all three can take their time returning to the rotation. With the talent the Sox already have in place, why rush?
And even when the Sox' big guns do come back, it doesn't mean Tazawa can't find a way to contribute to the Sox' pennant chase in September — and maybe even beyond.
How many times have we heard the story of a rookie pitcher thrown into the October fire, only to go from an unknown to a playoff hero? David Price in Tampa Bay, Joel Zumaya in Detroit, Bobby Jenks in Chicago — one minute, these guys are nobodies, and the next, they're in the World Series. Does Tazawa have the talent to be the next young phenom? He might — don't doubt him.
There's no way that when the Red Sox began their season four months ago, they expected to be in this position today. With the pitching depth they had stockpiled both on the big club and in the farm system, they never could have anticipated Junichi Tazawa starting in August.
But just because this was unexpected doesn't mean it's bad news. The Red Sox have backed into a promising situation — they've gotten a chance to see the promise of the future.
With Tazawa, the future is bright. He could be a key cog in the Red Sox' rotation for years — he has that kind of ability. But at the moment, he's just going to contribute in any way he can. So far, it's paid off.
