Bodog Beat

Dice K takes to the hill tonight for the Red Sox. (AP Images)

The Boston Red Sox are starting Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 1 of the ALCS. The Tampa Bay Rays respond with James Shields. If this were a popularity contest like the presidential election, Matsuzaka would easily prevail over the anonymous Shields. But there was only a small difference in performance level between these two men this year.

Matsuzaka: 2.90 ERA, 4.82 xFIP, 4.17 tRA, 50.6 VORP
Shields: 3.56 ERA, 4.06 xFIP, 3.97 tRA, 43.7 VORP

Matsuzaka’s quality of pitching has dropped off a bit the past month, although not as sharply as it did in 2007. The conditioning of Japanese pitchers coming into the MLB is always a concern because of their training methods and the many differences between the major leagues and the Pacific League. Dice-K’s making the adjustment, but he’s still not as strong as he was in the spring. Shields has pitched consistently well all year long. Get all your MLB Baseball Betting in the Bodog Sportsbook today!