Tag Archives: Clay Buchholz

February 13, 2013 · 5:50 AM

Sox Open Camp; Pitcher Already Hurt

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The Sox opened camp yesterday but news from Ft.Myers was already trickling in last week. Lets see what we know so far.

John Lackey is skinnier.

Well, it’d be tough for him to show up in any worse shape. The sloth mouth breather looked like he’d never seen a gym when he first showed up sweating all over the place. End of the day he’s still the guy cheating on his wife and serving her with divorce papers while she was battling cancer. His contract can’t come to an end soon enough.

Lester thinks he’s good.

Beckett may be gone but his stigma appears to be all over Lester. We go easier on him as a cancer survivor but we really need to separate the two. Lester was asked about taking his game to the next level and quipped, “what next level?”. I don’t know, maybe the one where you don’t have an ERA near five. You’re the ace of the staff. How about we start seeing those 100 MPH fastballs and elite control you once had; that next level.

Buchholz is already hurt.

He strained a hamstring in the first day of workouts. Good job dummy. I’m guessing day one of workouts was probably the first time he thought about working out since last season. And bows he’s already hurt.

Speaking of hurt…

Ortiz think his Achilles will be fine.

It wasn’t towards the end of last season and Ben Cherington said he should be ready by the start of the season. So why shouldn’t we believe that an aging slugger suspected of using steroids and HGH in his career won’t bounce back on the bad side of 35.

Finally John Henry says he’s not selling the team.

Which means Uncle Larry won’t be going anywhere either. Get ready for more bricks and sing alongs as the team strolls to another last place finish.

Being a Sox fan was fun for a good decade or so, now, not so much.

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July 10, 2012 · 6:33 AM

The Break

The Red Sox season has taken a merciful break. The wrapped up the first half limping to a .500 finish while dropping three of four to the Yankees over the weekend. They currently sit 9.5 games out of first place and in last place in the AL East.

Where do they go from here?

Well, the fans don’t think very far according to a poll over on ESPN.com. I have to agree.

Take out the likeness factor that I’ve talked about for most of the year and even back to last year. We know we don’t like this incarnation of the Red Sox. But it’s about the name on the front as my buddy Matty says.

The team is set to get back Buchholz (upset tummy), Crawford (Sally wrist), and Ellsbury (longest shoulder injury ever). In theory that would upgrade any team in a minute. But let’s look at it a little closer.

Buchholz is actually having the worst season of the “big three” in the rotation. His ERA is currently the 6th worse in the AL. So getting him back from the DL on an upset tummy, not really a good thing. If they said something was off on his mechanics and he needed to work it out, you’d feel so much better than an upset tummy.

Crawford has already said he’ll need surgery after the season. Don’t do us any favors Carl. You just go have it now. Your anemic .220 batting average can find its way back to the lineup next year. We’re in no rush to see you.

Finally Ellsbury and his shoulder. After his MVP like season last year, we really hoped he’d gotten over his sandyvagititus. He hasn’t. With Boras coaching him along to stay on the DL, his potential will never be realized. Hall of Famers are Hall of Famers because they put up those MVP type seasons every year. They don’t sit out half a season with an ouchie. Jacoby will never be the player he could be because he refuses to toughen up.

So think back to the Johan Santana for Ellsbury and Lester trade that was offered a couple years back. You’d pull the trigger on it today right? I mean for all that Santana was hurt in NY, Ellsbury was hurt up here. Lester has become mediocre almost overnight. It’s sad.

So I’m in the belief of a team that will possibly finish below .500. Sure they may get over .500 a few more times but I think last September will repeat itself. So again, I hope they blow it up. Start trading guys. Ellsbury, Beckett, Matzucrappa, even Lester. Watching the young guys play .500 baseball beats the shit out of watching these multi-year millionaire contracted assholes on the field.

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June 7, 2012 · 5:51 AM

The Return Of The Crap (Again)

Did any of you watch the Sox on Sunday? You missed, as I said on Facebook, a classic implosion. Daniel Bard had zero clue where the ball was going when it left his hand. It resulted in a pitching line of 1 2/3 inning pitched, 6 walked, two hit batters, and five earned runs on….one hit. Yup, one hit.

So the media has been talking for a while about how much rope this kid would get. Well apparently the answer is enough to get to June. Since he ranks second to last in walk/strikeout ratio, leads the league in hit batters, and is fifth in the league in walks. He needs to learn some control. Or to quote the great Lou Brown in Major League, “Better teach this kid some control before he kills somebody.”

So the team sends Bard and his stupid looking beard to Pawtucket. With Bard’s control issues and Buchholz’s 6.58 ERA that Wakefield wouldn’t have been a better option at the end of your rotation. Just Saying.

But back to Bard. With him headed south on 95 who’s taking his place in the rotation? Yup, the Craptastic One; Daisuke Matsucrappa.

Talk about a guy we didn’t want to hear from. I was hoping we’d NEVER see this guy at Fenway again. But sure enough he rushed through his rehab and is back with the big league club.

Great.

I think what bothers me even more than the fact that he’s back at Fenway is that this ownership and management group won’t be getting rid of him anytime soon. Sure his contract is up this year, but you know the team is going to offer arbitration. That’s their M.O. They’re going to make sure they get their draft picks if another team attempts to sign him because they’re greedy assholefaces.

So the Craptastic One will make his return on Saturday against the first place Nationals (not a typo). Personally I can just hope he gets shelled or re-throws out his arm and heads back to the DL. It beats watching 60 pitch innings which are so painful in Matsucrappa starts.

At least we have the Celtics tonight, possibly Saturday, and possible beyond. When’s football season start again?

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September 1, 2011 · 6:51 AM

Who’s Your Number Three?

Today is September 1st and there’s just about a month left of regular season baseball. The Sox need to start getting their rotation set for the playoffs. The Sox and Yankees are all but secured spots in the playoffs with the east and wild card. So barring a historical collapse, they’ll need to get the rotation set sooner rather than later.

The easy part is the front of the Sox playoff rotation. Lester and Beckett are clearly your front starters. You figure a three man rotation is probably going to be your playoff rotation, maybe four, but three is more than likely what they’ll go with.

So who is the number three starter come the post season?

John Lackey? His performance has certainly improved from where he was at the beginning of the season. But even though he’s winning games he’s giving up runs. He gave up at least three runs in every game in August that he started. The Sox thumping out a dozen runs against weak pitching isn’t going to happen in the playoffs. So I’m very hesitant to pencil in Lackey at the three spot.

Clay Buchholz? He’s been on the DL since June. He hasn’t pitched in a game since the middle of June. His back was supposed to keep him out for the remainder of the season yet he was throwing Tuesday night. The things is, him throwing is so far away from him pitching in a game I don’t think there’s enough time for him to get game ready. He’d need rehab starts and minor league baseball is wrapping soon. So without a place to rehab, I don’t think he’ll have enough time to get game ready and be your three.

Erik Bedard? Since coming to the Sox he’s had five starts. In those starts he gave up 3, 4, 3, 2, and zero runs in those starts. He’s likely only going to give you five or six innings meaning you need a strong 7, 8, 9 out of your bullpen but he may also give you the best chance to win.

Of course you have Wakefield, Miller, and Aceves in the mix I suppose. I think that those guys are bullpen bound come the post season and a guy like Wake may be left of the first round roster. We’ll see how it shakes out but I’d go with Bedard at this point. I don’t care if Lackey is on the payroll for much more money, I want the guy that will give the Sox the best chance to win.

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August 24, 2011 · 6:38 AM

Back In First

I don’t know if you’ve been staying up watching but I have. Sox in Texas for whatever reason keeps me up till the end (barring a blowout one way or the other). Some people aren’t viewing this series as a measuring stick since the Sox are playing without all their starters but I’m of the mindset that this is a measuring stick. The Rangers represent what could be your first round match up come playoff time so injured or not you have to see how well you match up.

Last night the Sox sent John Lackey to the hill. Now Lackey for all that we bashed him earlier this year (and who are we fooling, most of last year) he’s been alright since returning from the DL. It certainly helps when the offense wakes up and gives him some run support. Lackey actually leads the team in wins in August with three. Even Lackey’s loss in Tampa saw a respectable pitching line of 6 2/3 innings and three earned runs, thee walks and seven strike outs.

Like I said, the offense woke up. I think it helps that Ellsbury returned from being sidelined with his bruise or “contusion”. He was only 1-4 with a stolen base and a walk but having him at the top of the lineup sure beats, no offense to him, having Darnell McDonald near the top of your lineup.

In fact every Sox starter had a hit last night. The big bat was Adrian Gonzalez going 3-4 with two home runs, three RBI’s and a walk. Gonzalez is leading the majors with his .346 average and is second in the AL with his 97 RBI’s. He’s struggled with the power numbers following his impressive home run derby performance but seemed to be dialed in last night. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come down the stretch for the Sox lineup.

The team is still waiting on Ortiz to come back (maybe tonight) as well as Youkilis back from the DL to have their starting lineup back. I don’t count JD Drew but I’m like Nostradamus when I said he wouldn’t be back from his “injury” until September 1st when the rosters expand to 40 and it’s shaping up exactly like that.

We also have rumblings of Clay Buchholz saying he will return before the end of the season. It would be a huge boost to the Sox postseason rotation if he’s healthy and pitching well. For all the Lackey has pitched better you’re not likely going to win a postseason game giving up four runs. Like Schilling said on Sunday night baseball a few weeks back, in the postseason you have to go in with the mindset of giving up no runs.

So with the win and a Yankees loss in Oakland the Sox are back in a tie for first in the East. With their winning record against the Yankees this season, the Sox own the tiebreaker so if the season ended today, they’d have to edge and not have to play Texas. Let’s see if they can stay there this time.

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