After injuries derailed Dice-K’s 2009 season, 2010 opened to back and neck injuries that kept him out for the first month of the season. Saturday marks Matsuzaka’s first start of the season as the Red Sox play the Orioles.

Boston’s team ERA of 4.66 ranks 12th out of the 14 teams in the American League, and the Red Sox could use some vintage Dice-K if they want to rebound from their 11-11 start and challenge the Rays and Yankees in the AL East. But despite Boston’s need for quality starting pitching earlier in the season, the Red Sox were patient and refused to rush him into action.

“For Daisuke, it’s like, ‘What have you been waiting for?’” said Gordon Edes, a baseball writer for ESPN’s Boston Web site and former writer for Yahoo! Sports. “The Red Sox were worried about his stuff in spring training–velocity was down, command was lacking–but he looked sharp in his last couple of outings.”

And those encouraging outings, and the knowledge that their team has a steep hill to climb if they want to reach the postseason, allowed the Red Sox to start Matsuzaka on Saturday. Boston’s brass is also wondering what Dice-K they’ll get; the one that went 33-15 in 2007-2008 or the one that struggled in 2009. The Red Sox are hoping that some vintage Dice-K will give them a winning jolt after beginning the season so poorly.

“To me, the Sox are wondering if they’ll see again the pitcher Daisuke was in ’07 and ’08–they’ll start to find out tomorrow.” Edes said. “You can be sure they’ll be looking for six good innings.”

But what Matsuzaka’s return to the rotation means is a return to the bullpen for veteran knuckleball extraordinaire Tim Wakefield. Over his career, Wakefield has actually been a better starter than reliever, with a 10-13 lifetime record with a 3.75 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 217 innings with a better k:bb ratio and more strikeouts per nine innings. But Wakefield’s unpredictable meal ticket may not work as well in the bullpen, not to mention Wakefield’s reluctance to pitch in relief.

“As for Wake, he’s done it before, he’ll shoulder what I’m sure he considers an unpleasant burden again.” Edes said. “The traditional objections to a knuckleballer in the pen still apply–in a close game, passed ball, wild pitch, stolen bases, can be fatal.”

With the unpredictability of Wakefield in the bullpen coupled with the uncertainty of Matuszaka’s return to the rotation, the Red Sox are rolling the dice (k) with Matsuzaka and Wakefield. But for a team off to a slow start, perhaps this change will be the catalyst for the big winning streak the Red Sox sorely need to get back into the race.

Friday
-John Lackey looks to get himself, and his Red Sox, back on track as they open a series in Baltimore. The Mets and Phillies begin a battle for first place in the NL East as Jon Niese opposes Kyle Kendrick. Fausto Carmona has been superb for the Indians thus far and he’ll get put to the test against Kevin Slowey and the Twins. Joel Piniero faces Rick Porcello in Detroit, Andy Pettitte and the Yankees host the White Sox and Trevor Cahill makes his season debut as the A’s continue their series in Toronto. Jeff Niemann and Tampa Bay host Kansas City, Ricky Nolasco and the Marlins battle Washington, Tommy Hanson and the Braves look to end their nine game skid against Houston and Brad Penny and the Cardinals host the Reds. Cliff Lee makes his Mariners debut against Colby Lewis and the Rangers, Barry Zito faces the Rockies and the Dodgers look to get out of their funk against the Pirates.
Saturday
-Scott Kazmir, Dan Haren, Javier Vazquez and John Danks are among the notable pitchers starting games before the Fox regional slate at 3 eastern. Fox’s coverage is headlined by Roy Halladay and the Phillies hosting Mike Pelfrey and the Mets along with Wandy Rodriguez facing Tim Hudson in Atlanta and Felix Hernandez and the Mariners visiting the Rangers. Matt Cain and the Giants host Colorado, David Price and the Rays host the Royals and Daisuke Matsuzaka has his season debut against Baltimore. MLB Network’s Saturday Night Baseball features Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers against the red hot Padres ar 8:30 eastern.
Sunday
-Francisco Liriano is on a tear and will face Cleveland, Josh Johnson faces Washington, Derek Lowe battles Houston and Justin Verlander takes on Jered Weaver in Detroit. The TBS game at 1 eastern features Mark Buehrle and the White Sox visiting Phil Hughes and the Yankees. Ben Sheets faces Shawn Marcum in Houston, Josh Beckett faces Kevin Millwood in Baltimore and Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals face Cincinnati. Randy Wolf and Jon Garland go in San Diego, Zach Greinke faces Wade Davis and Johnathan Sanchez and the Giants face Colorado and top prospect Jhoulys Chacin. Sunday Night Baseball features Johan Santana and the Mets facing Jaime Moyer and the Phillies.

-A week ago I was heavily critical of the Dodgers’ pitching staff, but now it’s time to come down on their lack of offense over the last several games that has Joe Torre’s squad on a five game losing streak at 8-14. LA has scored a measly 12 runs over their previous seven games and five of those came in one game, a loss to the surging Mets. Torre has tried a bunch of things with his lineup to help get his club going, including batting Russell Martin leadoff, Matt Kemp 2nd, James Loney 4th and even Garrett Anderson 2nd in a loss to Pittsburgh Thursday night. The Dodgers have a bunch of games at home now and maybe that will solve part of the problem (they’re currently 4-11 on the road) but they’re already six games behind San Diego in the NL West. LA needs to get going quickly or they’ll get buried fast in a competitive division.
-A slew of unexpected heroes dominated the headlines on Thursday. John Buck became the first catcher in nearly six years to hit three homers in a game as Toronto defeated Oakland. David Freese had 15 career RBI’s before getting six on Thursday as St. Louis sent the disappearing Braves to their 9th straight defeat. Adam LaRoche, a career .199 April hitter, hit two homers and drove in five as Arizona roughed up Ted Lilly and the ever disappointing Cubs. In Texas, Paul Konerko hit homers nine and 10, which leads the major leagues by one over Kelly Johnson (released by the offensively starved Braves in the offseason) as the White Sox edged the Rangers. 
-Robinson Cano is an unstoppable machine right now. He hit a pair of homers last night as the Yankees shut out Baltimore 4-0 Thursday, raising his MLB best average to .407. He’s batting .583 over the last seven days, .441 on the road overall and .444 in night games this season. No matter how you slice it, he’s the hottest hitter in the game right now. One scout even compared his swing to Barry Bonds Thursday night. 
-I’ll bet nobody had the Padres to go third in baseball in team ERA at 3.05, but 25-year-old Louisiana lefty Wade LeBlanc is a big reason why. LeBlanc threw 6 1/3 shutout innings on Thursday, scattering eight hits, not allowing a walk and striking out six as the Padres blanked the Brewers 9-0 for their third straight win and their 8th in 10 games. LeBlanc now has a 0.52 ERA in just over 17 innings and is getting better for the first place Padres.
-It’s a touchy subject, but Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News dove right in on Thursday. The 2011 All-Star game is supposed to be in Arizona, but how comfortable will players be if they have to be randomly checked because they appear to be illegal. The new immigration law passed by John McCain in Arizona can randomly check anyone who looks like he may not belong, and with so many good players from Latin America (who make up 30 percent of the big league population), the Midsummer Classic for America’s Pasttime could end up feeling like a long three days at a border crossing. So props to Lupica for saying that the game should be moved, and a lot of people are now on board to pressure Bud Selig.

-John Buck’s three home runs against Oakland Thursday was the first time a catcher had three bombs in a game since Victor Martinez did it on 7/16/2004.
-Robinson Cano is 12 for his last 24 over the last seven days with a pair of homers hit Thursday in Baltimore.
-The Cardinals have had 19 quality starts (at least six innings pitched allowing three runs or less) in their first 22 games. The last time a team had that many over their first 22? The 1991 Indians.
-After his two home run, five RBI game on Thursday, Arizona 1B Adam LaRoche is hitting .299-4-17. Before this year he was a career .199 April hitter.
-In 85 April at bats, Juan Pierre has zero extra base hits. It could be why he’s out of the leadoff spot for the White Sox. Paul Konerko’s 10th home run of the season Thursday tied him for the White Sox franchise team record held by Jim Thome, who hit 10 April dingers in 2006.
-Magglio Ordonez became the 6th Venezuelan ever to reach 2,000 hits. He joins Omar Vizquel, Luis Aparicio, Andres Galarraga, Dave Concepcion and Bobby Abreu.
-Thursday’s outing marked just the second time since September 2006 that Dontrelle Willis went over six innings without allowing a run.
-Dating back to last July 7, seven of the last 11 batters Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie hit have been Yankees.
-With Justin Duchscherer on the DL, the A’s are on pace for 66 players going on the DL this season.