Terry Francona said Monday that Daisuke Matsuzaka will not need Tommy John Surgery.
"He's not going to have surgery. He's not going to have Tommy John," Francona said after Monday's loss to the Indians. "Some reports aren't very professional. That's a shame. It's a shame that we have to do that."
Via Tim Britton at the Providence Journal
Francona is likely referring to this report from Jon Heyman:
Daisuke Matsuzaka may need Tommy John surgery. After getting word from Boston doctors that he had a tear in his elbow ligament and would need rest and rehab for at least a month, Dice-K is said to have asked to see a Japanese surgeon. He will see a diagnostic doctor of his own choosing first, to determine whether it is agreed that rehab is worth trying.
For my dollar, both sides seem to be speaking to information they don't actually have. What is clear at the moment is that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be seeking a second opinion from Dr. Lewis Yocum for the injury to his UCL. What isn't clear is whether or not Tommy John Surgery is a possible outcome of that second opinion, but given the nature of Matsuzaka's injury, it's hard to understand why he would seek a second opinion if there was no possibility of it coming back with different results than what he received from team doctor Thomas Gill.
Might Daisuke need surgery? I expect the possibility remains on the table. But until Dr. Yocum gives Matsuzaka the second opinion he wants, everything else is likely just guess work.