It Sounds Like Clay Buchholz's Days In Boston Are Numbered, And He Knows It
Clay Buchholz hates me. Like, a lot. But that’s okay. He should hate me.
He should hate me, because out of everyone who covers this team, my critiques of him have been the harshest. They’re harsh, because the outlet that I write for allows me to express exactly how I feel with no filter, and I take full advantage of that. It was never anything personal. I’m only sharing how most, if not all, of the Red Sox fan base feels about him. I know he’ll never see it this way, but it’s almost a backhanded compliment. Nobody wastes their time shitting on pitchers who just flat out suck and have always sucked. I lose my mind when it comes to Buchholz, because we all know how good he can be.
We’ve seen it. Plenty of times, actually. That’s why there’s an extra layer of frustration and aggravation that comes over Red Sox fans when Buchholz greatly underachieves time and time again. When I say, “Clay Buchholz sucks,” I say it in the way that you’d tell your friend that they suck for not coming out on a Saturday night. You suck, dude. Does he suck at being a good time? No, he sucks because you know he’s a good time, and now it’s not going to be as good of a time because they’re not there. Does Clay Buchholz suck at pitching? I’m sure most reading this will say yes, but if you’re being objective about it, the answer is no. He’s talented as hell. But for as talented as he is, he’s a thousand times more frustrating, because he has never been consistent in his performance for a single second throughout his entire career.
Buchholz has been so disappointing this season that he’s pitched his way out of Boston’s rotation so many times that I’ve lost count. He just pitched out of the bullpen last night, making his first appearance in 19 days. Sure, he’s in the bullpen, but he’s a man without a role. He knows that with Drew Pomeranz here, and Eduardo Rodriguez making improvements, he’s no longer an option in the rotation. And with Craig Kimbrel returning in a few weeks (he’s already throwing off flat ground), the same for Koji Uehara, and Joe Kelly, and Junichi Tazawa being activated today, he’s likely without a spot in that bullpen, too, and he knows it.
“If this is the way the team is going to be as far as the rotation part of it … I feel like the guys they’re rolling out there, I don’t have a spot. I’m the odd man out,” Buchholz said when asked if he thought we was going to be traded. “I’m not sure. I don’t know. Not having pitched in a while I felt like something has be going on. I’m just trying to stay as sharp as I can and that’s why I’ve been throwing on the side. I have to stay somewhat stretched out.
‘I don’t necessarily think about it. if it happens, it happens,” said Buchholz of these being his final days in Boston. “There’s not a whole lot I can do about it on that side of it, except pitch whenever they call. I’m sure there are a lot of things that are going on. There might be another chapter. It is what it is. I’ll figure it out either way.”
“Being new to the whole bullpen deal, I don’t really have a role down there,” he said. “It’s not like I’m a seventh-, eighth-, or ninth-inning guy. I haven’t gotten up to pitch for a while. Just tried to throw bullpens during the game. That’s what I’ve been doing whenever anyone has been seeing me up there. I just get up there, try to throw some pitches to stay as sharp as I can. It was good to get back out there. Hopefully I can move forward a little bit now.”
I remember back in high school, this kid on my team asked the coach if he could warm up in the bullpen to make it look like he was coming in the game, because his girlfriend was there and he knew he wasn’t gonna play. That kid is basically Clay Buchholz these days. The writing’s on the wall. They can’t stash him on the disabled list, go figure, because he’s actually healthy for once. He’s out of contract options. He’s just kinda there. But for how long, is the question. The trade deadline is on August 1, and I do believe that Buchholz will be another team’s problem come August 2.
Teams need pitching. And it’s not even that teams are looking for an ace or a savior-type pitcher. Contending teams just need guys who can give them innings down the stretch. I think Buchholz will be dealt to a National League team — the Miami Marlins come to mind — and the reason why I think he’ll go to another league is for the same reason why he’s so damn frustrating to watch in the first place. It’s because, at any moment, he can go on a run where he has an ERA in the low 2’s. The cynic in me wants him to be dealt to the Orioles or the Blue Jays, so he can fuck up somebody else’s pennant run for Boston’s benefit, but I know the Red Sox are aware of what he’s capable of.
If a contender wants him, they can have him, but it’ll have to be a team that a trade can’t come back to bite the Red Sox until the World Series. And the odds of Buchholz going to a team, that team then making it to the World Series, the Red Sox also making it to the World Series, and then Buchholz being a reason why the Red Sox don’t win the World Series — well, the odds of that are very, very, VERY slim. Either way, his days in Boston are numbered, and he knows it.