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Alright.  I'll admit it.  I was one of the millions of residents of Red Sox Nation who was caught up in the Dice-K pheneomenon, the mythical promise and hype that he was going to come over and immediately dominate major league hitters like some kind of Japanese Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens.

So what have we learned one month into the Dice-KMania?  Well, I think we've learned that the Diceman has quite a long way to go before we can annoint him the next Pedro or Roger.  Or even Derek Lowe for that matter.  An ace?  Not yet.  I believed the hype.  I believed it when on those bone numbing February nights when the temperature was struggling to hit 4 or 5 degrees that the Sox had 4 potential aces on their roster.  I wouldn't have believed that in the first Friday in May that Dice K would be struggling to keep his ERA in the same range as the frosty temps of those frigid February nights. 

Have I soured on Dice-K?  No.  Anyone who is ready to make an assesment on the Japanese import's impact on May 4th is the same type of person that thinks a game is over when the visiting team jumps out to a 5 to 0 lead in the first inning.  There's still a long way to go and you can't judge how good a pitcher is based on six starts.  What we can state with certainty is that Dice-K is not an ace.  Aces don't allow guys enough free passes that you'd have thought NESN was running coverage of "run the bases at Fenway" day. 

Aces don't have a 5.45 ERA six games into the season.  (Although Dontrelle Willis does have a 5 and 1 record and a 5.35 ERA and I think we can all agree that he's an ace).  Josh Beckett had a 5.01 ERA last year and he was not ace material last year either.  This year, well that's another story.  He's turned it around. 

Dice has had some impressive starts and he's had some stinkers.  But based on the last two starts, I don't think it's a stretch to wonder why the impeccable control the scouting reports told us about has vanished almost as quickly as the mythical gyroball.  After the Sox exhibition game with Philly to end spring training, when asked what he thought of the Japanese pheneom, Phils manager Charlie Manual commented that he thought Dice would have had better command of his pitches.

His control in the last two starts has been perplexing at best.  As we speak, Dice-K's given up 15 walks in 38 innings, an average of 3.55 per game.  Last year, he walked only 34 in 186 innings, just 1.65 per game.  In his last two starts, he's given up 9 walks in 11 innings.  Should we be concerned that six starts into the season he's given up almost half as many free passes as he did all of last season?  And why?  Maybe in Japan he was afforded the luxury that umps give many superstar pitchers.  Maybe he gets a call just off the plate or just below the knees.  In the majors though, he's just another rookie and the umps aren't giving him those calls. 

So what's the issue?  Maybe he's just struggling to get used to the major league strike zone.  MLB baseballs are just a bit bigger.  Maybe that's affecting his control.  Maybe it's the umps.  Maybe it's moving halfway across the world and adjusting to a new lifestyle.  It doesn't seem that the pressure cooker that is Boston is the issue.  He seems to maintain his composure, even after allowing enough walks that you think you were watching senior citizens at the mall. 

No one said it was going to be easy.  I think you'd find very few members of the Nation who'd believe that Dice-K would have a 5.45 ERA at this (or any point of the season).  But don't jump off the bridge just yet Sox fans.  Someone asked me last week to assess Dice-K.  I told him I need one full season before I can make an honest assessment.  Otherwise, I'd just be jumping to conclusions, like I did on those frosty February nights.