Red Sox Pitcher Clay Buchholz Is Back

Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz has bounced back nicely.  Right-handed pitcher has pitched solidly in the second half of the 2016 season.

This 2016 Boston Red Sox season has been a roller-coaster with lots of ups and downs for not just the team, but more importantly individual players. Red Sox right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz has had one of his most difficult seasons yet.

Buchholz was demoted to the bullpen for poor performance earlier this season, his ERA was as high as 6.35 in early June and his future with the ball-club was truly in question.  In a rotation starving for consistency, Buchholz still appears to be the odd man out as a couple starters return from injury.

Steven Wright is scheduled to return Friday against the Kansas City Royals, but the Red Sox have been pretty direct toward Eduardo Rodriguez, who threw a three-inning simulated game Tuesday and appears to be okay after a mild hamstring strain. Buchholz went 6⅓ innings Tuesday, allowing one run and five hits with nine strikeouts. But it appears he will return to the bullpen unless the team decides to delay Rodriguez’s return.

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Red Sox Manager John Farrell has always been real positive about Buchholz’s expectations, “I don’t know that we ever truly lost faith in the talent of Clay,” said Farrell, who was the pitching coach when Buchholz broke into the majors in 2007.

Buchholz wondered at one point if a trade would be the best thing for all involved. Now there is satisfaction he stuck it out.

He has a 2.89 ERA in 10 appearances since the All-Star break, holding opponents to a .221 batting average.

“In this organization, doing a little bit bad is doing really bad because you hear about it from everywhere,” Buchholz said. “I’ve learned to deal with that . . . I’m going forward now.”

Clay Buchholz has quietly become an important piece to the Red sox pitching staff as of late.  The guy is a “gamer” and there is nothing else to it.

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“He’s playing a huge role for us right now,” Farrell said. With the pressure and noise that comes with playing in Boston, the heat hasn’t gotten to the Nederland, Texas Native, “In this organization, doing a little bit bad is doing really bad because you hear about it from everywhere,” Buchholz said. “I’ve learned to deal with that . . . I’m going forward now.”

We know the bats are going to be there in this last stretch of games coming up to end the season, as  the offense is leading almost every category in the Major Leagues.

The pitching staff will no question be the most important factor to determine this teams future, while down the stretch if Buchholz doesn’t start games he will be very important in the bullpen.

If the Red Sox do end up making the playoffs,  Clay Buchholz will be the first guy out of the pen trying to clean up a mess if needed. I see Buchholz coming into every night going forward to try to shut all of his haters up, and watching this will be something out of a Rocky Balboa film.

Next: Is Henry Owens Running Out of Chances?

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