Clay Buchholz Sent to Minors After Loss

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ August 21, 2008 at 8:05am ⋅ Post a comment

Troubled Righty Headed to Portland

The Red Sox took two of three games on the road against the Orioles. The two wins were courtesy of the team’s two best starters: Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka. The one loss was because of the team’s worst starter: Clay Buchholz. His latest rough outing (2.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K) was the last straw for Theo Epstein, as he sent the troubled hurler to Double-A Portland to figure out his problems.

Clay Buchholz has now lost seven straight decisions in the major leagues, leaving him with a 2-9 record and a 6.75 ERA. Part of Clay’s problem is that he has never really struggled in his whole career. He breezed through high school and the minor leagues without trouble. When he arrived at the majors, he tossed a no-hitter in his second career start. Now, he has some adversity, and he is struggling to deal with it.

John Farrell and the minor league staff have a lot of work to do, but Buchholz is still immensely talented and should be ready to go for next season. For now, Buchholz needs to regain his confidence and find the strikezone. A devastating curveball is only good if you’re throwing your fastballs and breaking balls for strikes. If you’re not, no one is going to chase a breaking pitch (unless you’re the free-swinging Mariners).

By the way, the Sox lost a chance to gain ground after the Tampa Bay Rays suffered a rare loss to the Angels. Currently, the Sox sit 4 1/2 games back from first place in the AL East.