Daisuke Matsuzaka

Will Daisuke live up to the hype? Good question. With less than a month to go until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, Sox fans are anticipating anxiously. For most of us, we only caught a glimpse of Daisuke during the World Baseball Classic, where he earned MVP honors while leading Japan to the championship. But how will he hold up with the tough schedule of the AL East?

Sure the World Baseball Classic is filled with some of the best talent in baseball, but it was basically a glorified spring training in the sense that players were still getting into the swing of things. Daisuke has proven himself during those games, but if he doesn't step up during the Sox season, there will obviously be a lot of criticism and he could even turn into a Boston version of A-Rod in NY.

I am anxiously awaiting this season to begin to see how he does and how he fits in with the Red Sox. For someone that every team wanted so bad that we had to throw down $51 million just to talk to the guy, there must be something special about him. Adjusting to the American lifestyle and working through hard times at Fenway will be difficult, but I believe Daisuke will have an above average season and show that he deserves to play in the Major League.