Results tagged ‘ Clay Buchholz ’
Another day, another duel
So nothing could live up to Beckett-Burnett? Well, not so fast. Sabathia and Buchholz is pretty good theater so far today. CC has a no-no through five. Buchholz might be coming of age in front of our very eyes.
Still no word on a starter for Tuesday, but I’m guessing Tazawa.
That was one of the best games I’ve seen in a long time last night. If it was a playoff game, that game would be rehashed for years.
Where do you rank that catch by J.D.? Just a fantastic game. It was fun to be there for it.
In the context of the rivalry from 2003-09 — call it the Epstein-Cashman era — it was second only to July 1, 2004 in terms of regular season games. July 24, 2004 definitely had drama, and a brawl and a walkoff, but it wasn’t a GREAT game. It was more of a slugfest.
Poor Youk in left today. He’s getting exposed.
Back comes Buchholz
The talk show caller circuit will have to find a new topic of conversation to complain about, as Clay Buchholz is indeed coming back to the Boston rotation — just not in the way people expected.
Tim Wakefield is down with a lower back injury, so Buchholz is back, and he’ll pitch Wednesday night.
Fans have been salivating to see more of Buchholz, and rightfully so, given the way he has pitched this season. Now they will get a chance, as he will make at least two starts before Wakefield is eligible to return from the DL on Aug. 2.
It’s interesting talking to Buchholz and seeing him interact with teammates. He is a completely different person than he was last year. He is completely self assured and feels like he belongs, where last year he had that deer in the headlights look from start to finish.
One peeve of mine is the knee-jerk fans who think John Smoltz is done because he’s been inconsistent his first five starts. John is still feeling his way back after missing more than a year with surgery. This guy is a Hall of Famer for a reason. I am of strong belief that Smoltz will play a very significant role down the stretch.His first five innings were terrific last night, and one bad inning shouldn’t erase that memory. The jury is still out, but give the guy a chance at least.
A flurry of roster moves in Toronto
SS Julio Lugo has been designated for assignment, ending his disappointing two and a half year run with the Red Sox.
Not really a surprise, and the only mystery now is if Lugo will be traded — with the Red Sox picking up most of the $13.5 million left on his contract — or just give him his outright release.
Mike Lowell is expected to be back on the roster tonight, playing third base. Shortstop Jed Lowrie will arrive tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how the playing time gets distributed between he and Green.
And, of course, there is the spectacle tonight of Clay Buchholz making his first start of the season in what is expected to be a one and done assignment.
Francona defends Buchholz
Red Sox manager Terry Francona is surprised that recent comments by Clay Buchholz in an interview with NECN were perceived as negative.
In short, Buchholz said that he can’t pitch any better than he has been, and he would rather be doing it at the Major League level, be it with the Red Sox or another team. He mentioned that he spoke with his agent about it.
“There was one line in there, out of a really mature interview,” Francona said. “If you go down and ask 25 guys in Pawtucket, which one of them do you think is going to say, ‘I don’t want to go to the big leagues?’ I mean seriously, who do you think would do that? Whoever says that, we don’t want him.
“The kid is pitching his [butt] off. That’s part of what we tell these guys in Spring Training. ‘Do your job, if you can really help us, you’ll help us. It might not be on your timetable.’ That’s just the way the game is.
“I think Buck is maturing rapidly, and handling a situation that maybe he wouldn’t have been able to in the past. But I actually watched that interview, and I thought there was one throwaway line in there that is getting a lot of attention, over a pretty mature kid.”
Is Buchholz stuck in the Minors?
“I don’t know that he’s stuck. We could always have him pitch here. I think, as an organization, we try to do what we think is right, for the organization, for the player. And if it doesn’t always land on the player’s calendar, on the exact date they want, I don’t think we’re always going to apologize for that. I think communicating with these guys is the right thing to do.”
On Buchholz’s overall progress:
“I think he’s doing a great job, I really do. I’m tickled to death, the way he’s pitching.”
Buchholz will piggyback John Smoltz tomorrow in a game that should be a great treat for Pawtucket fans. Buchholz is 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA in 11 starts for Pawtucket this year. Opponents are hitting .167 against him.
Carter and Green on the team — sort of
The last roster spots have been finalized, with the exception of the Brad Penny/Clay Buchholz decision.
Chris Carter and Nick Green, if everything stays the same, will be with the Red Sox on Opening Day at Fenway on April 6. However, general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona cautioned both players that a waiver transaction or trade is always possible in the last few days of camp.
Jeff Bailey was informed he won’t be on the team, and I’m sure it was a bitter pill to swallow, considering that he has played 1,111 games and came so close to making the club.
As far as the fifth rotation spot, Buchholz will make his final start of the spring today. Brad Penny pitches on Thursday, at which point the Red Sox will know for sure if the righty is ready to begin the season on the active roster.
Lowell and Rocco ready
When the spring started, two of the biggest question marks from a health standpoint were Mike Lowell and Rocco Baldelli. Lowell, of course, coming off hip surgery. And Baldelli dealing with channelopathy, which causes excessive muscle fatigue.
Both players essentially gave themselves clean bills of health heading into 2009.
Lowell is especially enthusiastic with one week left before Opening Day.
“I feel fine,” said Lowell. “I’m
actually further along than what I thought I’d be in a sense of, I thought this
week was going to be a final test of me bouncing back but I answered that a
week or 10 days ago. I’m really not worried about the season at all from the surgery
standpoint. I’m really happy. I’m actually ready to get out of here. It’s been
a long spring.”
As for Rocco, he belted a home run to left, his second in his last two games.
“I mean, I feel
alright. I could always be seeing the ball better, making more hard contact
consistently,” said Baldelli. “But I feel pretty good, and I’m happy with how Spring Training is
going so far.”
It speaks volumes that Baldelli is speaking more about specific baseball adjustments than his health.
“I would have been
very pleased to come in and just get on the field consistently, and just get in
some kind of baseball shape, and I think I have, and I feel good,” said Baldelli.
More from Fort Myers on Tuesday, when Clay Buchholz pitches against the Rays. Speaking of that, it really is starting to feel like Buchholz will make that April 12 start in Anaheim — and perhaps even another start after that — before Brad Penny takes that spot. The Red Sox have made no such announcement yet, but I’m starting to get that feeling. We’ll find out soon if I’m right. There’s no doubt about this — Buchholz has earned that start or two.
A line drive finale for Lowell
Yes, Terry Francona did say before the game that “Mikey is going to get two at-bats today and DH.”
As it turns out, Lowell wanted a chance to run out of the box, which he didn’t get while striking out and popping up in his first at-bats.
The final at-bat, taken in the bottom of the seventh inning was far more successful. Lowell watched a ball, then looked at a strike before raking a hard, clean, line single over the head of the shortstop and into center field.
FYI, Buchholz was absolutely lights out today, three perfect innings.
The return of Mike Lowell
Yes, Mike Lowell is in the Boston batting order for the first time since Game 3 of last October’s Division Series against the Angels. He will be batting fifth, serving as the DH.
Last time we all saw Lowell play a game, he was hobbled, and a shell of his normal self.
I’ll give you pitch-by-pitch updates of Lowell’s at-bats for those of you who can’t watch live.
Also, I’ll fill you in on Clay Buchholz‘s start and any other interesting happenings of the game.
Looking for a Mr. Camp? The early nominee is Nick Green. The 29-year-old veteran journeyman — who has 275 games of Major League experience and a lot of service time in the Minor Leagues — is hitting .478 with two homers and five RBIs over 23 at-bats.
Unfortunately for Green, it’s hard to imagine a roster spot will be open to him unless there is a trade of a certain veteran shortstop, which is highly unlikely.
Buchholz and crisis management; Pap breaks out slider
While the star of the day was top prospect Daniel Bard and his 100-mph fastball (I’m not sure poor Mike Aviles ever saw it), Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon also had interesting outings against Puerto Rico.
Buchholz got into jams in both of his innings, and got out of them. This is significant because this is the same type of thing that would just sink him last year, be it in Spring Training or the regular season.
“First inning, two
guys on, nobody out. Last year, it would have just snowballed and there would
have maybe been three runs at the least,” Buchholz said. “My thought process was alright, make a
pitch right here, get a groundball. I struck somebody out and then pop fly,
nobody advances. Last guy I struck out. That first inning made me go in the
dugout and just take a deep breath and say, OK, once again, I’ve been in that
position and I knew how to do it more [now].
“And second inning, right off the
bat, bases loaded, nobody out. From then on, my mindset was minimize and get a
groundball or get a flyball and I came out lucky and got a double play and then
ended up getting out of it with just one run.”
As for Papelbon, he is making a concerted effort to integrate the slider into his mix this season. Of course, Papelbon already has that lethal fastball and split, but the slider can give him a new wrinkle.
Papelbon said he hasn’t thrown it much since converting to reliever for good in 2006.
“Today, I felt
like I wanted to go out there and throw my slider more and I was able to do
that well,” Papelbon said. “Just because,
for me, I feel like it’s time to kind of give those hitters something else to
look at. For me, adding another pitch will just, I feel like, make me better. I
felt really good today and I’m really pleased about it.”
Grapefruit League rotation; Ortiz returns to practice
We have a pitching order, at least for the first few games.
Ace Josh Beckett will be the first Boston pitcher to take the mound in Spring Training, when he faces Boston College at City of Palms Park on Wednesday afternoon. Tim Wakefield pitches that night at the Twins’ complex.
Jon Lester pitches at home against the Pirates on Thursday, followed by Michael Bowden at Port Charlotte against the Rays on Friday. Lefty Kris Johnson, a Minor Leaguer, starts against Northeastern on Saturday afternoon, and Clay Buchholz pitches that night at City of Palms against the Reds.
And to come back in and answer Julia’s question. David Ortiz’s shoulder is fine. He was back out there taking BP today after missing two days of workouts.
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