Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will need surgery to fix a torn right elbow ligament and at least a year of recovery to have any hope of resuming his Major League Baseball career.

The Red Sox placed the Japanese ace on the disabled list and the operation is expected to take place in California later this week. The surgery requires another tendon to be transplanted in place of the one in his throwing arm.

“It’s my first time to get an operation and all I can say is I’m very shocked when it comes to this result,” Matsuzaka said through a translator.

“I was told the ligament is torn and to fix it perfectly I need to have surgery.”

Because the recovery time is between 12 and 14 months and Matsuzaka’s six-year contract worth $52 million expires next year, “Dice-K” might never pitch again for the Red Sox.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Matsuzaka said. “I hope I come back to the game again in a Red Sox uniform.”

The Red Sox paid Matsuzaka’s salary plus $51.1 million in negotiating rights to Japan’s Seibu Lions in order to simply talk with the former Japan League star, a stalwart for two-time champion Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

Matsuzaka was 15-12 for Boston in 2007 and helped the Red Sox sweep Colorado to win the World Series. He followed in 2008 by going 18-3 with a 2.90 earned-run average.

But Matsuzaka went a combined 16-15 the past three seasons with a 5.03 earned-run average and nagging injury problems.

This season, Matsuzaka was 3-3 with a 5.30 earned-run average.

Overall with the Red Sox, Matsuzaka is 49-30 with a 4.25 earned-run average.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) – Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will need surgery to fix a torn right elbow ligament and at least a year of recovery to have any hope of resuming his Major League Baseball career.

The Red Sox placed the Japanese ace on the disabled list and the operation is expected to take place in California later this week. The surgery requires another tendon to be transplanted in place of the one in his throwing arm.

“It’s my first time to get an operation and all I can say is I’m very shocked when it comes to this result,” Matsuzaka said through a translator.

“I was told the ligament is torn and to fix it perfectly I need to have surgery.”

Because the recovery time is between 12 and 14 months and Matsuzaka’s six-year contract worth $52 million expires next year, “Dice-K” might never pitch again for the Red Sox.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Matsuzaka said. “I hope I come back to the game again in a Red Sox uniform.”

The Red Sox paid Matsuzaka’s salary plus $51.1 million in negotiating rights to Japan’s Seibu Lions in order to simply talk with the former Japan League star, a stalwart for two-time champion Japan in the World Baseball Classic.

Matsuzaka was 15-12 for Bostin in 2007 and helped the Red Sox sweep Colorado to win the World Series. He followed in 2008 by going 18-3 with a 2.90 earned-run average.

But Matsuzaka went a combined 16-15 the past three seasons with a 5.03 earned-run average and nagging injury problems.

This season, Matsuzaka was 3-3 with a 5.30 earned-run average.

Overall with the Red Sox, Matsuzaka is 49-30 with a 4.25 earned-run average.

The Boston Red Sox placed pitcher Rich Hill on
the 15-day disabled list Friday with a left elbow sprain.

Hill, 31, has not allowed a run in eight innings over nine relief appearances
this season for the Red Sox. Hill has 12 strikeouts, while only allowing three
hits and three walks. Hill began the 2011 season with Triple-A Pawtucket of
the International League, where he went 1-0 with a 1.13 earned run average,
one save and 18 strikeouts.

To fill the roster spot, the Red Sox have selected the contract of left-hander
Tommy Hottovy from Pawtucket.

Hottovy, 29, has yet to appear in a major league game. The southpaw compiled
a 1.67 ERA with 28 strikeouts between Pawtucket and Double-A Portland this
season.

To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Hottovy, the Red Sox transferred
pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to the 60-day disabled list.

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A long time ago, baseball players used to barnstorm after the season, picking up some extra dough after the major league season had ended.

Now, teams do it practically up to the time they are asked to line up along the foul line for Opening Day. This explains the Boston Red Sox stopover in Houston, where they initially were to play the Astros twice for no reason, before Thursday’s exhibition game was dropped.

A long Grapefruit League season is over, and we are wiser now. The 2011 Red Sox are very good, possibly the best team in baseball.

But possibly not. The runaway expectations of winter need not be discarded, only modified to reflect an awareness that questions do exist.

Josh Beckett. J.D. Drew. Jonathan Papelbon.

The catching, at least from a defensive standpoint. These are my questions; maybe you have others.

Maybe they will all work out in the positive. No doubt, challenges will crop up that we cannot imagine or predict now.

We have 162 games to find out.

In February, I was asked how many games I thought the Sox would win. After due thought, I said 98.

That’s a lot. The Red Sox haven’t won 100 since 1946, yet I was asked, why so low?

It’s because baseball is such a grind that nothing goes perfectly. Best-case scenarios are alluring but misleading.

The 10-game Grapefruit League losing streak that ended Monday means nothing. Except as a reminder that as the only sport contested every single day, baseball is the most unpredictable sport of all.

The starting pitching falls into that category. There is no reason to think Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz won’t be outustanding.

I’ll willing to believe John Lackey will be better than in 2010, however marginally. And count me a member of the Daisuke Matsuzaka defenders’ club, as long as he’s a No. 4 or 5 starter and not a 1 or 2.

That leaves Beckett. He’s healthy, but he’s struggled. We’ll see.

We will see about Papelbon as well. Plan B is probably Bobby Jenks (though the Red Sox purport not to think in such negative terms), but Jenks’ ERA was half a run higher than Papelbon’s last year.

Daniel Bard had a 6.75 ERA this spring. We’ll see.

Drew is a mystery. Mike Cameron looks so spry that a platoon in right seems appealing.

Is Cameron really a young 38, and what can we expect from Drew? We’ll see.

The Red Sox will score a lot of runs. The defense ought to be all right now that the regulars are on the field.

So I stand by my prediction of 98 wins, which is high considering the division offers the prospect of 72 tough games.

Every AL East opponent is a handful. That includes the Orioles, who are putting their house back in order, the pesky Rays and the revamped Blue Jays.

A very special year could be in store. But be happy with 98 wins from a Red Sox team that spent the offseason, looking for solutions but opens the chase with a fair number of questions as well.