Remember Clay Buchholz? The kid who pitched the no-hitter last September?
Looks like he'll be
back soon ...
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Red Sox won't tip their hand until it's time to make a roster move, but there's a good reason Clay Buchholz was pulled from Pawtucket's game Monday night after pitching five scoreless innings while throwing just 50 pitches.
Buchholz appears primed to return to the Sox rotation, possibly as soon as Saturday afternoon against the Yankees in the Bronx.
Buchholz is 4-1 with a 1.63 ERA in eight starts since the Sox sent him to Pawtucket to work on his fastball. In his past four starts, he is 4-0 with a 0.40 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 22 2/3 innings.
Justin Masterson is scheduled to start Saturday and the rookie right-hander is worthy of staying in the rotation, going 4-2 with a 3.75 ERA in eight starts while demonstrating considerable poise to go with his above-average stuff. But Masterson also has walked nine batters over 12 innings in his past two starts, and manager Terry Francona talked openly after Monday night's 5-4 loss about how few innings the 23-year-old has thrown professionally.
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You ever get the feeling the Red Sox mapped all this out from day one?
They didn't want Buchholz to pitch more than 180 innings this year, because he pitched only 148 innings last year. So when he got away from his fastball this spring, they gave him some time off before sending him to Pawtucket to re-establish his fastball command. Now he's on pace to finish the regular season with fewer than 180 innings. Right on target.
Same thing with Masterson. Last year he pitched 153 innings, and I'm sure the Red Sox don't want him topping 180 this season. Just wait; at some point Masterson is going to get a nice rest.
I love the Rays. I think they'll still be in the thick of things in mid-September. But I'm picking the Red Sox to come back and win the East because of their pitching depth. At this moment their starting pitching goes seven deep, and that's not even counting Pawtucket knuckleballer
Charlie Zink, who is 8-2 with a 2.63 ERA and would be pitching in the majors right now in any other organization.
Obviously, there's not a whole lot separating the Red Sox and the Rays, and what's most likely is that their contest will be determined by seemingly random events that we cannot foresee. But among the things we can foresee is this: The Red Sox are better-equipped than the Rays to cope with those random events.
Rob Neyer
