Not Sure What To Do About Clay Buchholz

Every year it seems there is a pitcher who just doesn't get the job done, yet somehow ends up with a decent record. Right now, that pitcher is Clay Buchholz. His ERA is 7.84 yet his record is 4-2. This is thanks to the massive amount of run support he's received, which is actually the most of any starting pitcher in baseball to this point.  But obviously, something isn't right.

In 2010 Buchholz threw 173.2 innings, finished with a 17-7 record, and had an ERA of 2.33. It's obvious why the Red Sox saw him as an emerging star and rewarded him with a 4-year contract extension worth nearly $30 million. He had what many thought was that special quality you only see in a few young pitchers. But then, 2011 wasn't so kind to him. He only threw 82.2 innings as his season was cut short due to injury. What was even more alarming than his injury, was that his ERA ballooned to 3.48, more than a full run higher than the previous year. Obviously the injury played into this, but something just was off. He gave up 9 home runs in all of 2010, in his very short 2011 season, he gave up 10. The 2012 season has pretty much continued where he left off in 2011, which isn't a good thing obviously.

So far in 2012, Buchholz has already given up 11 home runs, 43 earned runs, walked 27 batters, and struck out 27. As it sits right now, opponents are hitting .330 against him. This is all in 49.1 innings pitched. It's a miracle he's won 4 games. He's pitched in 9 games so far this season, and has only one outing in which he gave up less than 3 earned runs. He's only made it to the 7 innings mark once. He just isn't right. I don't know what exactly it is, but his command is just gone. In 2010 he had a strikeout to walk ratio of nearly 1.8, that ratio is now 1/1. It doesn't take a genius or a baseball nerd (yes, like me) to figure out there is something wrong.

The only major change, other than his injury, has been the departure of John Farrell. Farrell left his post as the Red Sox pitching coach to become the manager of Blue Jays. Whatever magic he worked with Buchholz apparently left as well. As it sits right now, I dread seeing Buchholz's name as the starter.  You know instantly that not only will the offense have to carry him, but the bullpen is going to be worked hard.  He's just not a viable option at this point, especially seeing as he's supposed to be the number 3 starter. With the rumors of Roy Oswalt working out for Boston and Dice-K seemingly on his way back, Buchholz's spot in the rotation may be in serious jeopardy. Do I like the idea of keeping Bard in the starting rotation and having to move Buchholz to the bullpen or even worse, down to the minors? Absolutely not, but right now, he just isn't helping the team.

It really sucks too, I like Buchholz, a lot. I will never forget where I was when he threw his no-hitter, and I remember thinking, man, this kid is going to be an ace. Then in 2010 it really looked like it was his time to shine. But 2011 just didn't work out, I wasn't worried though. Injuries are a part of baseball, he had a ton of time to recover and regain his form, or so I thought.  Maybe he's still feeling the effects from that stress fracture in his back, who knows. Either way, he isn't really helping the team right now, and something is going to have to be done about it. It's not fair to the bullpen or the rest of the team to have to constantly be picking up his slack.

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