Dice K for Cy Young?

The way that Daisuke Matsuzaka has been pitching lately is making me think that there is a good chance that he could accomplish something that has not been done in baseball since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. That year Fernando won both the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young award.

Dice K is 10-5 with a 3.53 ERA but those numbers don't tell the story of how dominant he has been recently. In his last 5 starts Matsuzaka has averaged 7 innings, 8.6 strikeouts, 3.8 hits with an ERA of just 1.03 in those starts. In that time he has also dropped his season ERA by almost a run - from 4.52 on June 10th to his current 3.53.

It is quite possible that Dice K has acclimated himself to playing in the US and we are now starting to see what he's capable of. And what Matsuzaka is capable of is starting to remind people of Pedro Martinez in his prime.

He's been that good.