Daisuke Matsuzaka #18

Daisuke Matsuzaka graduated in 1998 from Yokohama High School…Finished 1998 unbeaten with a then-Japan high school record 208 strikeouts...Led Yokohama to the championship of the 1998 Koshien National High School Tournament…Defeated traditional powerhouse P.L. Gakuen in the quarterfinals with a 17-inning, 250-pitch complete-game effort…The following day in the semifinals played the outfield but came on in relief to record a save as Yokohama rallied from a six-run deficit to win…Completed the tournament with a no-hitter in the final vs. Kyoto Seisho High School, the second no-hitter ever pitched in the Koshien championship game…Established a Koshien single-game record with 14 strikeouts... Led Japan to the world amateur championship title in the summer of 1998, earning MVP honors for the tournament... Born on September 13, 1980, individuals born in Japan's 1980 fiscal year (April 2, 1980-April 1, 1981) are often referred to as being from the "Matsuzaka generation."

2013

Split the season between the Mets and Cleveland's Triple-A team, Columbus of the International League... Asked for, and was granted, his unconditional release on August 20 from Cleveland...Signed a one-year contract with the Mets on August 22 and made seven starts with the team... Compiled a 1.37 ERA (four earned runs/26.1 innings) and a 3-0 record over his final four starts of the season...Struck out 21 and walked nine... Lost his first three starts with the Mets, allowing 15 earned runs over 12.1 innings (10.95 ERA)...Walked seven and allowed 19 hits and three home runs... Beat the Marlins, 3-1, on September 14 at Citi Field...It was his first win since August 27, 2012, while with Boston vs. Kansas City...Went 0-7 with a 12.86 ERA (40 earned runs/28.0 innings) in eight starts between wins... Became the eighth Japanese-born pitcher to win a game for the Mets...He also became the 12th Japanese-born player to appear in at least one game with the Mets... Surpassed Tomo Ohka for third among Japanese-born pitchers with 53 career major league wins...Trails Hideo Nomo (123) and Hiroki Kuroda (68)...Has the third-most strikeouts (642) and walks (337)...Ranks fourth among Japanese-born pitchers with 123 games started and sixth with 707.0 innings... Went 7.2 shutout innings in his final start of the season on September 25 at Cincinnati...Won, 1-0, in his longest outing since going 8.0 innings on April 23, 2011 with Boston at Los Angeles-AL... Threw 292 pitches in 20.2 innings over his final three starts, an average of 14.45 pitches per inning...In his first four starts with the Mets, the righthander averaged 20.61 pitches per inning (371 pitches/18 innings)... On his August 28 start, became the second pitcher in the majors in 2013 and the second pitcher in Mets' history to throw at least 110 pitches while recording 13 outs or less...Houston's Lucas Harrell threw 112 pitches in 4.1 innings on April 7 against Oakland...The only other Met to do so was Tom Glavine, who also needed 110 pitches to get through 4.1 innings of a 9-7 Mets victory over the Phillies on June 13, 2006... Made 19 starts this season for Columbus...In his first 10 starts, he pitched at least 6.0 innings only once, but in his final nine starts he pitched at least 7.0 innings seven times...Allowed one earned run in five of his final eight starts...Did not allow more than three walks in any of his last 16 starts...In total, he struck out 95 and walked 39, while sporting an 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings...Opponents batted .245 (93-380).