The Great Kazuo

Since his return for the disabled list Kazuo Matsui has played like the 20 million dollar player he was supposed to be. He has played excellent defense and his hit the ball very well. The Mets signed Kazuo on December 8th 2003. In the 2004 season he hit the ball well. He played 114 games. He batted .272 with a .331 OBP while recording 125 hits, 65 runs, 32 doubles (team high), 2 triples and 7 homeruns in 460 Abs. However his defense ate shortstop was sub par. First off his arrival moved fan favorite Jose Reyes to second base. Second off he committed 23 errors in 520 chances, which is good enough for .956 fielding percentage. This was not bad for a second baseman however it was not at all what the Mets expected they would get for a 7 time all star in Japan. In his second season with the Mets Matsui was moved to second base and Jose Reyes was moved back to shortstop. Kaz was placed on the DL more than once in this season. He played a total of 87 games. He batted .255 with a .300 OBP while recording 68 hits, 31 runs, 9 doubles, 4 triples and 3 homeruns in 267 Abs. His hitting dropped off so much that Matsui was booed all the time. He was booed for getting out, for taking a strike, for not hitting in key situations, but after a while it got ridiculous. Fans booed Matsui before he even saw a pitch and even when he got a hit. The booing eventually got in Matsui’s head and in turn Matsui began to fail not only at the plate but in the field as well. Now Matsui was already a bad fielder who was trying to make a defensive position change, so one can only imagine how horrible he played. In 303 total chances Kazuo made 9 errors, which is good for a .970 fielding percentage. Now that may not seem like a bad number, and its not. However Kaz had horrible range at second base and thus many balls got by him that should not have. He also was given the benefit of the doubt on many plays that he should have made. There was even a point in the season when Kaz lost the job of starting second baseman to Miguel Cairo. Once again it was a disappointing season for Matsui. During the off-season there was much speculation that Kaz would be trade. But try as they might, the Mets could not trade Kaz. His contract was too large, and he was not a very good player. Going into the spring Kaz was defending his job against rookies Anderson Hernandez and Jeff Keppenger. It was expected that Kaz would keep his job but over time Andy would step up and take it from him. By the end of Spring Training Kaz had once again injured himself. He was placed on the DL to start the season and Anderson Hernandez got the job. Hernandez played excellent defense but looked overmatched at the plate. Hernandez even made a play that will be nominated for play of the year. During a game Hernandez injured his back. He was placed on the DL and coincidently Kaz was coming off at the same time. Kaz was brought in and has been playing ever since. Kaz played his first game in San Diego and in his first AB for the third straight year Kaz hit a HR but this year he had to work for it as it was an inside the park HR. From that point on it was off to the races for Kazuo. He has played in 9 games and is batting .297 with a .316 OBP recording 11 hits, 3 runs, 1 double, and 1 HR in 37 ABs. Thus far Kazuo is off to a great start. He was on a 8 game hitting streak and should be on a 9 game hitting streak however a great grab by Adam LaRoche in yesterdays game. Perhaps Matsui’s great start could be luck, or maybe starting on the road is what he needed to do or maybe, just maybe his true talent is starting to break through. I think it may be the third one, but that’s just me. I know it is a super small sample size but if given a chance both by the Mets and the Met fans I believe Kazuo can be a great player.