Boston Red Sox rookie right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka has been named the American League Player of the Week, Major League Baseball announced Monday. Matsuzaka received the honor for the first time in his young major league career following a pair of solid starts last week, picking up the win both times and having a 2.12 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 17 innings in the process. "I don't really feel the significance of the honor I just got, to be honest," Matsuzaka said. "It's not a familiar award in Japan, but a good thing happened to me and I'm simply happy with it." Matsuzaka was picked from among potent rival candidates for the weekly honor, including compatriot Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, who had a .577 batting average last week.
