Buchholz @ Toledo 7/27

Not his best start by any means. On a pitch count, he went 4 innings, gave up 3 hits (1 HR, 2 singles), 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. First inning did the most damage on his line as he walked a batter and then gave up a 2-run HR. He then proceeded to walk 2 more batters in the inning. He settled down after that before running into some trouble in the 3rd where he gave up 2 singles and a walk but got out without any damage. The good thing though is his K-rate is still ridiculous. He's now struck out 21 batters in 12 innings (15.75 K/9). Obviously because of this outing his walk rate is high (4.50 BB/9) with a 4.50 ERA, but Clay's control is significantly better than that and given more time he'll adjust just fine.

Buchholz vs. Louisville 7/22

Awesome, pretty much describes his outing today. Buchholz in his second AAA start, on a 5 inning/75 pitch limit made Louisville hitters look foolish all day. He went 5 innings (74 pitches), 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. He had 20 swing and misses with just 74 pitches and had multiple strikeouts on all four of his pitches. The trouble came in the third when he walked a batter, hung a curve for a double, gave up a single and a sac fly. But other than that he was just dominant and had these hitters completely baffled most of the time. He struck out superstar prospect Jay Bruce twice today also. Overall very impressive for his 2nd start in AAA.

July 16th vs. OTT

Here we are one step below the show in AAA. Clay made his debut and was less than spectacular. He pitched 3 innings, allowing 5 hits (one of which was a 3-run HR), 3 runs, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. First the positives, he struck out 4 batters and didn't walk any which bodes well for future success. He hadn't started a game in a while so he was one a 50 pitch limit. Hitters sat on his fastball which Clay seemed to throw first-pitch FB's to every batter and that's how he was getting hit. His next start is Sunday, I wouldn't make too much out of this start as it was his first in AAA and first start in a while.

Obligatory Buchholz vs. Hughes Comparison

You knew it was coming, Buchholz finished his AA campaign and here's the statistical comparison with Yankee blue-chipper Phil Hughes' AA season from last year.

Buchholz AA 2007 (22 yrs): 86.2 IP, 55 hits, 116/22 K/BB, 1.77 ERA, 0.95 GO/AO
Hughes AA 2006 (19 yrs): 116.0 IP, 73 hits, 138/32 K/BB, 2.25 ERA, 1.58 GO/AO

comes out to:
Buchholz: 5.7 hits/9, 12.04 K/9, 2.28 BB/9, 5.2 K/BB, 1.80 BAA, 0.88 WHIP, 0.42 HR/9
Hughes: 5.6 hits/9, 10.70 K/9, 2.48 BB/9, 4.31 K/BB, 1.79 BAA, 0.91 WHIP, 0.39 HR/9

Promotion, and Future Game Wrap-up

I apologize for the delay in posting, a couple things to cover today including Clay's bullpen stint, his future game appearance, and his promotion. To start with in his first bullpen outing he was a bit shaky, pitching 1 1/3 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB and struck out 1. Clay always seems to get better as the game goes on which is why he projects much better to stay a starter. Then yesterday in his Futures Game appearance he pitched one inning, allowing 1 ER (HR) and struck out 2, scouts were very impressed despite the HR. And this will wrap-up Buchholz's time in AA as he is being promoted to AAA Pawtucket following the All-Star break. His final numbers were: 86.2 IP, 55 hits, 116/22 K/BB, 1.77 ERA and opponents hit just .180 off him. A well deserved promotion indeed.

Futures Game and All-star selection

Announced about a week ago, Clay was selected (along with fellow Red Sox OF prospect Jacoby Ellsbury) to play in the futures game for team USA. The game will take place on July 8th and Clay is expected to pitch an inning in relief. Buchholz was pulled from his 5 inning no-hitter by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein (who was in attendence) and will pitch an outing out of the bullpen for Portland in the coming days in prepartation for the futures game. Also it comes to no ones surprise that Clay was named to the Eastern League All-Star game. The game is to be played on July 11th leaving it unlikely Clay will pitch because of the Futures game in San Francisco three days earlier. Buchholz leads the Eastern League in strikeouts (115), ERA (1.69) and WHIP (.87). He was also named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for this past week.

Buchholz vs. Fisher Cats 6/30/07

Another very nice outing for Buchholz. He went 5 innings allowing 0 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB and 4 Ks. Didn't really throw many curveballs tonight hence the "low" strikeout totals for tonight, but his change-up was working and fooling hitters the whole night. On the season he has pitched 85.1 IP, 53 hits, 115/21 K/BB, 1.69 ERA and opponents are now batting a microscopic .177 off him on the year. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein attended the game last night and was the reason Buchholz was taken out after only five innings (his PC was in the 70 range).

Epstein had this to say following the outing: (Printed in the Portland Press Herald)
"He's going to throw an inning of relief in the Futures Game so what we're going to do is give him an inning of relief four days from now, on the Fourth.Instead of just interrupting his starting routine, we're going to turn this into a developmental experience for him. We're going to let him see what it's like to pitch out of the pen.We look at him as a starting pitcher but you never know. A lot of great starting pitchers at some point in their career pitch in the pen. This will give him a feel for what it's like. It will also give him a little breather in the middle of the year."