Red Sox Matsuzaka ready for Japan's Classic defense

11-22-2008 | AFP

The 28-year-old pitcher is eager to represent his country if selected

Panama Star TOKYO. Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who helped Japan win the inaugural World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2006, says he is ready for the country's defense of the title in March.

"If I am selected, I will accept it gladly," the 28-year-old right-hander told reporters Thursday when he returned home after the end of the US Major League Baseball season, Japanese press reported.

Matsuzaka, crowned the most valuable player of the 2006 competition when he was with Japan's Pacific League Seibu Lions, said he had not yet been approached about the 2009 WBC.

"If I am selected, there is no need for me to make haste in preparations. I will just step up the pace of my training in December. I will increase my pitching practice," he said.

Matsuzaka was instrumental in Japan's three wins in the 2006 tournament in which his earned run average (ERA) was 1.38. He pitched four innings and yielded one run in Japan's 10-6 win in the final against Cuba.

In his second year with the Red Sox, he posted an 18-3 record with a 2.90 ERA in 29 starts.

Matsuzaka helped Japan win the 2004 Olympic bronze in Athens but missed the Beijing Games in August as MLB clubs refused to release players.

The WBC is organized by MLB as baseball's answer to the football World Cup.