RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka isn’t overly concerned with any sentimental meaning attached to 16 wins, but it’s a significant number nonetheless for Japanese pitchers plying their trade in the big leagues.

With Friday night’s impressive win over the Chicago White Sox, Dice-K upped his record to 16-2 and tied former Sox RHP Hideo Nomo for the most single-season wins by a Japanese pitcher in Major League history. With over a month of baseball left to be played, it seems all but certain that Matsuzaka’s 2008 Sox season will be the best single Major League campaign ever by a Japanese pitcher.

That kind of accomplishment must be heady territory for a single hurler representing an entire nation of baseball-crazed onlookers, but Matsuzaka brushed off any accolades associated with his win total.

“I don’t think that just reaching the number in and of itself has that much meaning,” said Matsuzaka through translator Masa Hoshino. [The 16 wins] aren’t something I’m particularly conscious about.” 

The right-hander does, however, seem to be particularly conscious of winning another World Series Championship, and has been dominant against the iron of the American League this season.

In five starts this season against the likely AL playoff teams (the Rays, Twins, White Sox and Angels), Matsuzaka is 3-1 with a 2.21 ERA and has been at his very best mixing sliders, changeups and a sneaky-quick fastball against potential playoff foes.

While it hasn’t always been pretty watching Matsuzaka’s inefficiency and high pitch counts throughout his breakthrough season, a 16-2 record and a 2.82 ERA simply can’t be argued with.

“He seems to have a lot left, which is good news,” said Sox Manager Terry Francona. “He looks strong.”