Daisuke Matsuzaka News

Daisuke Matsuzaka commenced his second 30-day injury rehab assignment tonight with the Pawtucket Red Sox after he was recalled by Boston on May 19, and then remained on the team's disabled list for seven days with a strain right trapezius muscle .

The circumstances were all in place for the PawSox to secure their 31st victory of the season, and just their second over the Toledo Mud Hens.

The slugger was slotted in at first base on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays with Kevin Youkilis at third, but manager Bobby Valentine said there's a strong chance that Gonzalez will move to right on Saturday so he can cram third baseman Will Middlebrooks into the lineup.

On the surface, it doesn't look like there's much to update here. Iglesias still has a rather sad-looking OPS, and aside from the stolen bases, hasn't done much offensively overall.

It's still early in the season, but there already has been no shortage of players taking rehab assignments in order to work back from injuries.

It seems that Daisuke Matsuzaka is ready to pitch. The Red Sox announced this afternoon that Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch for Pawtucket on Saturday night against Toledo.

In light of the pending switch to the American League, each week TCB is helping you adjust to the trauma, breaking down a particular topic each week...Next up we look at Japanese sensation and Texas Ranger Yu Darvish .

The Red Sox are playing better baseball lately and are doing so from every conceivable angle.

Cody Ross became the sixth Red Sox outfielder on the disabled list yesterday, joining the hurt parade because of a non-displaced fractured navicular bone in his left foot.

Yu Darvish threw 96 pitches and walked six in just four innings, for his first bad start in the majors.

The puzzle of Yu Darvish was solved by the Seattle Mariners Monday night, but his numbers still sparkle.

Just when the Red Sox starting rotation was on the verge of having too many options, Daisuke Matsuzaka is unlikely to return for an extended period of time,A Daniel Bard is doing his best to give management every reason to put him back in the bullpenA and then Clay Buchholz throws a stink bomb on the mound in Baltimore.

Daisuke Matsuzaka #18 of the Boston Red Sox throws before a game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park April 18, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.

The righthander, whose minor league rehabilitation assignment was due to end Wednesday, has been shut down because of pain in his right trapezius muscle, located in the upper back.

Daisuke Matsuzaka received an injection in his right trapezius muscle and will not make his scheduled rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday.

With the calendar rapidly approaching June, the Red Sox are hovering a bit under .500, seven and a half games behind the somehow still in first place Orioles .

We probably make too much of slow starts to seasons by good teams. Far more often than not, those teams straighten themselves out, and by September those dismal first few weeks of the season have long since been forgotten.

Caught in a rundown, Norfolk's Ronny Paulino, center, tries to head back to third base between Charlotte's Dan Johnson, top, and Josh Phegley in the second inning at Friday night at Harbor Park.

With a good chunk of the world's baseball fans and most of Japan paying attention, the Durham Bulls were very, very good Thursday night.

David Ortiz said he will be playing first base tomorrow. As for tonight, Bobby Valentine laughed and said that Big Papi is "so available." * Daisuke Matsuzaka felt good about his outing for Triple A Pawtucket on Thursday night because he pitched into the seventh inning and threw 95 pitches.