Will Terahara be the next Matsuzaka?

I saw Terahara's pitching a few days ago and was impressed. Before I saw him pitch, I regarded him as a big bonus-baby being hyped too much. But he threw a real pitching gem against Nippon Ham for 8 innings with a consistant 90~92mhp fastball. His command of his breaking pitch was there, too. I found that his strict overhand arm action provided more downward movement on his breaking stuff so hitters could not easily hit it.

I watched Matsuzaka, who's considered the best of the best hurler in Japan, a lot of times and knew his stuff too. Surely, Matsuzaka has lost some pop on his fastball these days and is showing signs of fatigue due to the severe workload from past four years.

In my opinion, Terahara can be the next Matsuzaka someday not too far from now. He's now on the process of adjusting. His velocity has not fully recovered yet. (It is said that he can throw in the 94~96mph range without distracting his control.) If he finds comfort on the pro-ball mound, his fastball will come back, and he can dominate just like Matsuzaka did his rookie days.

[Links inserted by: westbaystars on May 30, 2002 6:29 PM JST]