Asked and answered: Junichi Tazawa, Red Sox reliever

Junichi Tazawa is almost certainly bound for the minor leagues at the end of spring training. Red Sox manager Terry Francona said as much between games on Saturday: "He's going to go through our system and learn to pitch and play the game the way we feel."

But he's certainly opened looked sharp enough to open some eyes at the big-league level. He tossed a shutout inning last Wednesday against Boston College and looked even sharper on Saturday. He struck out four and walked one -- Nashua's James Donaldson -- in two innings of work. The next question, naturally: Can he do it against major leaguers?

(Angel Chavez is another player who'll be sorry to see college teams disappear off the schedule. the non-roster invitee, who played last season at Triple-A Las Vegas, doubled and homered twice, including a grand slam Saturday, against Boston College and Northeastern.)

Here's a sampling of Tazawa's Q&A with reporters -- through a translator -- after Saturday's 14-0 win over Northeastern:

What has been your impression, after two outings, of what camp has been like?
"When it comes to the hitters, I've only faced college players so far, so it's tough to say. But right now, I'm just trying to figure out which type of batters swing and hit which type of pitches. I've had some early success so far, but there's still a lot of learning left in terms of what types of batters I'm going to face. As for the team and the camp overall, everything is new to me, but I've had lots of support from the Japanese staff here, and I think that overall things are going well."

Are you eager to test yourself against major league hitters?
"Yeah, I certainly want to see how I stack up against major league hitters. But at the same time, I'm a little bit nervous to face them."

What has surprised you the most about spring training?
"I don't know if there's any one thing in particular, but I was surprised by the number of fans that always come out for our games, even during the week. That's been impressive."

People have talked about how comfortable you look. Do you feel as comfortable as you look, and what's making you that comfortable?
"When it comes to the workouts, there's a lot of people that I can talk to, so I feel a little bit relaxed. But when it comes to facing live hitters, whether that's during BP or in the games, I certainly feel pretty nervous out there."

Have you done anything different this spring from what you did in Japan?
"One difference is that, previously, where I would pitch side sessions of 100 to 200 pitches to get ready for the season, now those side sessions are much shorter. For example, they're timed sessions of, say, 12 minutes. So that's one adjustment I've had to make."

Does that feel different so far?
"In Japan, I would often throw 100 pitches every day, day after day, without any rest. But right now, for example, after an outing, I'll get two days off of pitching from a mound. But right now I don't feel I need to pitch more. I feel good where I am, so I think things are going well."

Has it been beneficial to have Takashi Saito and Hideki Okajima around?
"Everything is so new to me that having the chance to speak to them, to both Okajima-san and Saito-san, and to hear their stories has been a big source of confidence for me."

Saito said that because you are so young coming over here, you could be a trailblazer for other, younger Japanese players to come to the United States and assimilating quickly. Can you envision yourself in that role?
"I don't think as myself as a pioneer. I just wanted to play baseball in the U.S., and that's why I'm here. If I can perform well, that might give other Japanese players the opportunity to play over here. In that regard, I would like to play well."