Results tagged ‘ Clay Buchholz ’
Jenks to the DL; Buchholz waiting for more progress
In an alarming development, Bobby Jenks went to the DL today for the third time this season. The injury? The same as the last one.
“Bobby experienced pain in his left mid back area when he was warming up last night, similar to the past injury,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He’s going to fly back to Boston today and we’ll get him checked over the weekend.”
The Red Sox have called up lefty reliever Randy Williams from Pawtucket to take the spot of Jenks on the roster.
Meanwhile, Clay Buchholz felt a little progress when he threw yesterday, but he knows that his back is still not fully healed.
“Obviously I want to be pitching, I want to help the team in any way I can,” Buchholz said. “Me going out there not 100 percent, or not 80 percent, I don’t think is going to help the team any. I think if I rush back into it, it will be something that will be here for the rest of the season and I don’t want that. I’d rather be ready to pitch at 100 percent and I feel like that’s the way that I can help this team win.”
Buchholz did feel a little better when he played catch yesterday.
“It definitely did,” Buchholz said. “Went out there, just basically wanted to play catch at 50 percent and I actually went a little bit harder than that because I didn’t feel anything like I thought I was going to. Throwing has never really been the issue. It’s been pitching when throwing off the mound. I don’t think I’m at that point yet but yesterday was a step in the right direction for sure.”
Buchholz might not pitch until after All-Star break
Clay Buchholz conceded before Wednesday night’s game against the Phillies that his next start might not be until after the All-Star break.
Thanks to a lower back strain, Buchholz hasn’t pitched since June 16. He had held out hope a few days ago that he could return on July 4 at Fenway against the Blue Jays, but the righty no longer seems confident he can make it back that soon.
“[I'm] probably set back a little bit,” Buchholz said. “I’d rather come back after the All-Star break and be healthy, if that’s the case, unless something happens that what we’re doing is going to make it feel better in the next three or four days and then I could look at pitching when we get back home. I want to make sure I’m ready for August and September. If something happens and I go out and pitch and feel 80 percent, then this happens again and I have to go back on the DL, that’s not what I or, I don’t think the team wants. That’s where we’re at right now.”
A couple of days ago, Buchholz went out and threw with hope that the back issue would be cleared out. But he could tell it wasn’t.
“Just going out and throwing, I wanted it 100 percent gone before I pitch again and it was still there,” said Buchholz. “I definitely didn’t think it was going to be there like it was. Yeah, I expected to go out and throw … I didn’t expect it to be completely gone but it just didn’t get better as quick as I thought it was going to so that’s where we’re at right now.”
Buchholz and the Red Sox both think it is pointless and unproductive for him to try to grind through the injury at this point. As it is, it has lingered since late last season.
“Hopefully I can get this out of the way and come back at 100 percent and not have to worry about it for the rest of the season and hopefully it’s gone forever and I’ll never have to worry about it. That’s the outlook I have on it right now,” Buchholz said. “I’m sort of disappointed the last couple of days after I threw a couple of days ago. There’s nothing I can do about it except keep treating it and hopefully it gets better.”
In the meantime, Buchholz is happy that the Red Sox have pitchers like Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller and Alfredo Aceves at their disposal.
“We have depth, so that’s a good thing. Someone else can take the ball and I can feel like there’s not any fall-off,” Buchholz said.
Start of a road trip in Cleveland
The Red Sox arrived in Cleveland without Daisuke Matsuzaka. The injured starter is currently in Japan tending to personal business. On his way back, he will stop in Southern California and see the renowned Dr. Lewis Yocum to get a second opinion on his ailing right elbow. At this point, Dice-K and the Red Sox hope surgery can be avoided. There will be more information on that front after the visit with Yocum, which will take place before the end of May. If Dice-K needed to have Tommy John Surgery, it would take him out for all of this season and at least a large portion of 2012. His contract with the Red Sox ends after the 2012 season.
Being back in Cleveland, I can’t help but think of how much things have changed since the last visit here. The Red Sox, lacking in confidence and execution at the time, dropped to 0-6. They left on that hearbreaking loss, when Darnell McDonald fell down rounding second to end the game. It was quite a way to enter the Home Opener the next day.
As it turns out, getting swept by the Indians was not quite as bad as it looked at the time. After all, these are the same Indians who have a 29-15 record, the best in the Majors.
“I was just thinking about getting introduced on that first-base line [for the home opener] and wondering if they were going to shoot us,” quipped Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “Obviously they’re playing good and they feel good about themselves and it happens every year to a team. You start out well. Guys get confident. You get a couple of guys that really click.”
The Red Sox are in far better position to go toe to toe with the Indians this time around, because they are clicking, with eight wins in their last nine games going into tonight.
“Well, when we were here, nothing was going right,” Francona said. “The day Lester pitched well, we didn’t get any runs. we got blown out every so often. We would lose a close one. We were inconsistent in all areas. Now, it seems like we’re sort of stringing together maybe that game where we spread it out a little bit and we’ve won a lot of close games. I just think things have settled down a little bit.
“Like Salty, which is such a huge position, things were going kind of quick for him, now I think it’s slowed down for him. Tek’s taken a little bit off his plate, which has helped. Pitching is keeping us in games where if we don’t swing the bat early, like last night, it gives us a chance to get into the game and not have to fight our way back so much. and then there’s been a couple of games where we’ve fought back. Gonzalez has been maybe the best hitter in the game.”
Tonight, the Red Sox see Justin Masterson, who made a great impression during his years in Boston’s farm system, and the parts of two seasons (2008-09) he spent on the Major League roster. Masteron has done a great job, going 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA in his first nine starts.
“I know, it’s hard not to love him,” Francona said. “We all do. I hope we beat his brains out. Yeah, he’s everybody’s favorite. How can he not be?”
What has Masterson done to take his game to the next level?
“He’s pitching in very aggressively, especially to lefties, and he always needed to do that,” Francona said. “Because of his arm slot, lefties are always going to get a better look than righties. He’s pitching in aggressively. Because he’s such an easygoing guy, I don’t think people realize how much he competes. But he’s a really good competitor. I just think he’s good. We used him out of the bullpen because we could. It was kind of a luxury. When you go into starting, you need to have that other pitch or locate a little bit to get through the second time through the order. Now he’s got that, and he’s really good.”
As for the Red Sox, they have a pretty good one of their own going in Clay Buchholz, who is coming off a career-high of 127 pitches.
“You won’t see him go that again, I guarantee you that,” Francona said. “He bounced back really well. A pitch count is a tool, and I agree with it. We need to know what it is. But he stayed in his delivery so well, he didn’t really tax himself. If he would’ve, we would’ve taken him out. I think he’ll be okay. But we recognize it and we’ll keep an eye on it. We keep an eye on workload pretty good. “
Friday Night Lights
You can finally see the Red Sox for yourselves on Friday night, when they travel to Tampa to play the Yankees. It will be the first NESN telecast of 2011.
With a split squad coming up on Saturday, the Sox won’t bring their “A” team to Tampa to play the Yankees.
Clay Buchholz draws the start, but none of the nine projected Opening Day starting position players will be on sight.
Jason Varitek will catch, and the infield will include Lars Anderson, Jose Iglesias and Jed Lowrie. The outfield will be represented by Ryan Kalish, Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava.
Before the club leaves for Tampa, Josh Beckett — recovered from his mild concussion symptoms — will throw three simulated innings in the bullpen. Adrian Gonzalez also might take live BP for the first time this spring.
The Buck stops here
There will be no ERA title for Clay Buchholz. His 2010 season has come to an end. The Red Sox have scratched Buchholz from Saturday’s scheduled start because of lower back stiffness.
Veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will instead make the start, in pursuit of career win No. 194, and No. 180 with the Red Sox.
As for Buchholz, he had a tremendous season. The numbers speak for themselves — a 17-7 record, a 2.33 ERA and a .226 opponents batting average. Buchholz would have had a chacne to win the ERA title. Instead, it will go to Cy Young favorite Felix Hernandez, who is at 2.27 and won’t pitch again this year.
Buchholz flat-lines in Oakland
Maybe Clay Buchholz is hitting a wall. Six days after not having his usual sharpness in a start against the White Sox, Buchholz was simply awful tonight, recording just three outs before being lifted.
As the Red Sox slip from contenders to non-contenders, you wonder if Buchholz will skip a start or two here with an eye toward next year.
This was the shortest start of his career. The only other start he recorded just three outs was the game in San Francisco earlier this year when he injured his hamstring while running the bases.
Red Sox getting into dangerous territory
The Red Sox arrived here in Anaheim tonight at the point in their season where they simply cannot fall any further back then they are in the standings if October is going to be any kind of realistic possibility.
Before even taking the field today, the Red Sox lost a half-game in the standings to both the Rays, who got a Matt Garza no-hitter against the Tigers and the Yankees, who notched a 3-2 win over Cleveland.
A loss tonight would drop the Sox nine games behind the Yankees in the American League East and six in back of the Rays in the Wild Card. In other words, they DESPERATELY need Clay Buchholz to out-duel Dan Haren in this one.
As for other news of the day:
One clear positive note was the return of Victor Martinez, who batted sixth . Another? Jacoby Ellsbury started his rehab in the Minors. Dustin Pedroia did some running before the game, and it didn’t go as well as he hoped. Still no word on exactly when Pedroia will return. A big part of it will be how his CT-scan goes in Boston on Friday.
But you have to wonder: Will the Red Sox still be within striking distance in the race(s) when they get all their big guns back?
At this hour, that is a very tough question to answer.
Lowell, others getting healthier
Dustin Pedroia is still a few weeks away. Same with Jason Varitek. Same probably for Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Victor Martinez. But some other bodies are getting healthy.
Manny Delcarmen returned to the mix tonight after being down for two weeks with a forearm strain. Clay Buchholz gets back Wednesday when he pitches in Oakland. Josh Beckett could well be the next day in Seattle.
And there was even a Mike Lowell update today. The 3B/1B/DH will have a cortisone shot on his right hip on Monday and be back playing in a Minor League rehab assignment by Thursday. The question for Lowell is, when he does come back, will it be for the Red Sox or another team?
The Rangers are interested again, though they are monitoring all available corner infielders.
“I think there’s been rumors since the Winter Meetings of last year,” said Lowell. “If something happens, I don’t think that changes the way I feel about my teammates or the city or the fans. Those are all positives for me. I love Miami too. So, I don’t see why it changes, or it’s always a bad thing. I do know I enjoy playing baseball and I’m doing that less this year than I ever have. I don’t know. I’ve heard talks, but I’ve heard talks for eight months. I have no idea. I don’t know the situations other teams are in, whether it’s a need or what, I don’t really care to know either. I think you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to break down every team. I just want to be in a position where I can play.”
All-Star Monday with a M*A*S*H update
The Red Sox, as is their annual custom, took up an entire corner of the room at the All-Star media Monday.
Some interesting nuggets.
It has been assumed that Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz would return to the rotation and pitch on Friday night at Fenway against the Rangers. That is no longer a safe assumption. Buchholz said he will pitch Monday, but it’s not certain to be in Boston.
A Minor League rehab assignment is possible, especially since lefty Felix Doubront, who filled in for Buchholz in his last start, is still on the roster. Pawtucket plays at Syracuse on Friday night, so that wouldn’t be a particularly long road trip.
“I’m ready to go,” said Buchholz. “I’ve gotten a whole lot better in the last couple of days, too. Definitely feeling ready to go. I don’t know where I’ll be pitching for sure on Friday but they definitely said I was pitching Friday.”
Asked about the possibility of the Minors, Buchholz said, “It could be. It’s three weeks off. It would sort of be hard to throw me right into the fire. I think I’m going to feel strong just throwing the couple of bullpens I’ve already gthrown. I feel good, I feel strong”
The original hope for catcher Victor Martinez is that he would be back shortly after the All-Star break. But the fractured tip of Martinez’s left thumb isn’t healing as quickly as originally hoped.
“As soon as the pain goes down, I’m going to at least be able to put my glove in there and be able to go out and play,” said Martinez. “Unfortunately I just can’t put my hand in the glove. That’s the thing. It’s painful. I tried. It’s tough.”
Dustin Pedroia hopes to take a positive step forward on Friday when he gets a follow-up CT-scan on his fractured left foot.
As for Jacoby Ellsbury, his agent Scott Boras wanted to make it clear that the outfielder was not trying to disassociate himself from the team when he trained at the Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz. over the last month.
“There’s a lot of people, certain journalists, who just don’t have the right facts,” Boras said. “The cooperation has been great with the organization. I spoke with Terry [Francona] four or five times and Theo [Epstein] many times. We’ve been on the same page throughout. These are decisions of Jacoby’s medical care and his physical therapy, all these thigns were made mutually. It’s been a very cooperative environment. Good communication with everybody and we knew what was going on and why and it was all by agreement.”
“I think Jacoby described the set of circumstances he was operating under and the information he was operating under. I think that accurately potrays what occurred and the key thing is that I’m just telling you, responsibly between Theo and myself and and Jacoby and Terry, it’s all been very fluid, it’s all been very understood. There’s been no question about what he should or shouldn’t do. The team in fact chose where Jacoby would train in Arizona. That was not anything we suggested. That was a group they’re comfortable with and Jacoby was comfortable with. It was a very cooperate effort.”
Six Sox Stars and one (sort of) snub
The Red Sox got plenty of respect from players around Major League Baseball as no fewer than six Boston players were slected to the All-Star Game via the player voting.
But just as newsy as Adrian Beltre, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez being named to the squad was the news that Kevin Youkilis did not make the cut.
Youkilis is one of the five AL players eligible for the Final Vote ballot, so Red Sox fans should go to http://www.mlb.com or http://www.redsox.com and vote if they want to support the gritty first baseman.
“I’m not a self promoter,” said Youkilis. “I’m not going to tell anyone to vote for me. I hope my family and friends vote for me. but it’s going to take more than that. For me, I’m going to go out and play baseball and not worry about it. I’ts out of my hands. You just go out and try to win a ballgame.”
Beltre seemed to be the guy that Sox players were the happiest for.
“No question, man,” said Ortiz. “If there’s one guy in this clubhouse who should be part of the All-Star Game, it’s Adrian. Adrian has been doing an unbelievable job for this ballclub and I think he’s earned it.”
Clay Buchholz has come the furthest in the shortest amount of time. Remember two years ago when he was so despondent and lost and posted a 6.75 ERA in 16 starts?
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs to get to this point. Being able to be named with the guys that are on, that’s awesome,” said Buchholz. “It’s something that I dreamed about growing up. I dreamed about just playing in the big leagues. I’m as happy as can be.”
Though Jon Lester has pitched like an All-Star since May of 2008, this is his first time officially being one.
“It’s obviously big,” said Lester. “It’s something you grow up watching as a kid, the home-run derby and everything. You see a lot of great players playing that game. It’s definitely an honor. Like I said before, I’m going to try to do my best to represent the Red Sox and hopefully do well out there.”
For Ortiz, this All-Star berth has to be particuarly gratifying, considering the number of people who were on the verge of giving up on him back in April.
“That’s a tough first month,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He said all along, ‘It’s a long year, stay with me.’ There’s probably days when he was irritated with me and probably days where he was more than irritated with some of you. He’s right. He’s been a terrific player and continues to be, and I think it’s great that he was recognized for that.”
At least outwardly, Ortiz took the news in stride.
“I really appreciate it, man, what the players think about a guy like myself,” Ortiz said. “Like I say, I’m a guy that I try to respect everyone and play the game the way it’s supposed to be. I think when you get voted in by the players, it’s just because pretty much everyone agrees with what you’re doing, so, I’d say I really appreciate that.”
For Pedroia, the All-Star nod has to be bittersweet since he currently is walking with crutches and obviously won’t be able to play in the game.
“It’s still a great honor,” Pedroia said. “I’m really excited. The players voted me in? That’s pretty cool. Pretty special. I’m excited about it.”
As for Youkilis, Ortiz said to get out there and vote.
“Yeah man, all of you out there, you guys make sure that my boy Youk comes on this flight. You can’t play no better than that,” said Ortiz. “When I found out he wasn’t going, I was kind of upset. A guy that has put it together like Youk thorugh the years and especially this season, he really deserves to be out there. I know a lot of people will keep that in mind and make sure Youk is an all-star. He deserves to be in there.”
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