With the acquisition of Paul Byrd and return of Tim Wakefield in two weeks, the short-term future of Clay Buchholz is very much in doubt. He may be starting on Sunday, but it doesn’t mean that his future is intact. Tim Wakefield? Bartol Colon?
Buchholz has struggled this year to the tune of a 6.32 ERA in 14 starts (72.2 innings). He got off to an encouraging start to the year, posting a 4.08 ERA in April but has quickly deteriorated since and spent time in the minors to establish his fastball. He was able to dispatch of minor league hitters with aplomb and was summarily recalled to the majors, but his old tricks flared up again.
It’s hard to watch his starts because you see how much this kid genuinely cares and how he starts aiming pitches, falling back on his off-speed stuff, doing anything to staunch the bleeding. But it’s not working. It’s not that he’s pitching badly, he’s just terribly unlucky and a rookie in every sense of the word.
What can be done? Nothing much other than patience. What should be done? How about turning him into a reliever?
It would remove the pressure of starting games which can be crushing for certain people. It allows him to bring his best stuff immediately and not pace himself. If he gets into trouble, Terry Francona will not be as inclined to allow him to try to work out of it. String a few good games together and perhaps his confidence is back.
Of course, you risk damaging his psyche, shaking his confidence. There is a difference between making Justin Masterson a reliever and Clay Buchholz a reliever. Masterson did nothing wrong whereas Buchholz may view it as a demotion.
The concern of turning him into a reliever is excerbated by his pitch counts. Pitches 1-15 have a 9.90 ERA and .333 BAA attached to them. The numbers are poor except for pitches 31-60 and 76-105. Those are not encouraging numbers for someone you are considering turning into a reliever.
At this point, however, I don’t see a downside towards trying Buchholz out as a reliever. Best case is morphing into another Justin Masterson and shutting down batters en route to a veteran rotation getting the Sox another ring. Worst case, he can’t turn things around, but that’s where we are right now.
In the wake of witnessing the 19-17 game in person, adding a live arm the quality of Buchholz to the bullpen might just be the medicine needed. What say you?
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