Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz is displeased with his demotion to the bullpen, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Buchholz declined to talk to reporters for the second straight day and threw in a curse word as he walked away from them Saturday, according to Drellich. Manager John Farrell has left the door open for Buchholz to return to the rotation, saying, “While he might not like the current situation, that’s where we are. If he pitches to his talents and abilities, that role can potentially change.” Buchholz, 31, has been a solid starter for most of his career, but he put up a 6.35 ERA, 5.88 K/9 and 3.91 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings in that role this year and will try to right the ship as a reliever.
Here’s more on a few other established pitchers:
- The Rays will slowly transition reliever Brad Boxberger back into the closer role when he returns soon from core muscle surgery, manager Kevin Cash said (via Sam Blum of MLB.com). The righty led the American League in saves last year (41), but thanks to the brilliance of fill-in Alex Colome, the Rays haven’t missed him in the ninth inning. Nonetheless, Boxberger’s presence will aid a Rays bullpen that has been mediocre this year. In 137 2/3 innings from 2014-15, Boxberger compiled a 3.03 ERA, 12.55 K/9 (seventh among qualified relievers) and 3.67 BB/9.
- Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray threw a 35-pitch first bullpen session Saturday – his first BP session since going on the disabled list last Sunday with a trapezius injury – per Jane Lee of MLB.com. Gray “feels good,” manager Bob Melvin said afterward, and could return on or shortly after June 5.
- Two big-name Angels, southpaw C.J. Wilson and righty Tim Lincecum, are on similar timelines to make their major league debuts this year, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Wilson, who has been out all season with an injured left shoulder, will make his first of at least two starts with Triple-A Salt Lake City on Monday.
- In case you missed it, the White Sox and Padres are discussing a James Shields trade.
Buchholz and Cashner could be interesting buy low options for losing teams if they can establish a pillow contract extension out of it, offering them a chance to re-establish themselves with big league innings a bad team can offer over this year and the next and enter free agency on a better footing.
Isn’t Buchholz due pretty soon for his annual injury anyways?
Buchholz a “solid starter” for most of his career? He won more than 12 games once. Buchholz has been the beneficiary of an excessive amount of patience. Buchholz is overrated, been that way for a while, and has nobody but himself to blame for his current situation. He’s upset? Too bad. Perhaps if Buchholz was more accountable this could all have been avoided.
Your spot on, I looked up his stats. He has had 2 good years and the rest have been mediocre. His career high in innings is 189, that’s not an ace. The Sox should be happy is is mad about it instead of pouting, maybe he will focus more. If he does get bought out I hope the Cards stay far away from him.
Are you factoring in he pitches in the AL East having a career era over 100 in the AL East is pretty good. Hes only had 2 really bad years really and that is counting this season.
As a Sox fan, having watched a lot of Buchholz over the years, I would describe him as unreliable. Frequent injuries, wildly inconsistent results, an inability to throw 200 innings, and a knack for disappearing at pivotal points of the season all contribute to my belief Buchholz is overrated. Too frequently people make excuses for this guy, but he’s ten years into his career. Buchholz is a third starter, at best, he lacks the consistency to lead a pitching staff. I think he’d lack that consistency in either league and any division.
In his first appearance in relief last night he came away with half as many wins as he got in two months as a starter.