Many baseball fans, especially those with a bias against the Red Sox, have always had some choice words about Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz. A young pitching prospect at the age of 25, people criticize his build, his inexperience, his inconsistency, and more.
This past Wednesday, having taken the mound for just the 7th time in 2009, he faced off against Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in baseball. This was a game that mattered very much, and the Blue Jays were favored to win it.
Buchholz defied the odds and looked like the star this time around. Pitching six innings, he allowed just one earned run and pitched the Sox to victory. Halladay, on the other hand, looked like the inexperienced pitcher here, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings.
While Buchholz's performance against Halladay is obviously impressive, the two starts before this one were nearly as difficult. One was against CC Sabathia of the Yankees. During this game, Buccholz only allowed two earned runs in six innings pitched. The other one was against Justin Verlander of the Tigers, in which case Buchholz surrendered just one earned run in seven innings pitched. Simply put, he's been solid.
Buccholz has taken a bit of time before catching on in 2009, as his most notably bad experience took place during a start against Baltimore. It looks like he's quickly building on his experience and putting his bad starts behind him.
Incidentally, Buchholz was the subject of many rumors leading up to the trade deadline. It's very well possible that these rumors had a real impact on his performance, which is when his struggles essentially took place.
Don't let the haters fool you: Buchholz is for real and this three-start trial by fire against three of the AL's best shouldn't be overlooked. Those that say he isn't pitching well should explain what their criteria is, because from everything I'm seeing, this is exactly what you should expect from a top prospect with 25 career starts pitching for one of the highest-profile and most covered teams in sports.
You have to like thinking ahead to a rotation featuring Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Matsusaka and Buchholz in 2010, but there's a lot of baseball this season to be played and more opportunities for him to evolve into an ace of his own.
This past Wednesday, having taken the mound for just the 7th time in 2009, he faced off against Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in baseball. This was a game that mattered very much, and the Blue Jays were favored to win it.
Buchholz defied the odds and looked like the star this time around. Pitching six innings, he allowed just one earned run and pitched the Sox to victory. Halladay, on the other hand, looked like the inexperienced pitcher here, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings.
While Buchholz's performance against Halladay is obviously impressive, the two starts before this one were nearly as difficult. One was against CC Sabathia of the Yankees. During this game, Buccholz only allowed two earned runs in six innings pitched. The other one was against Justin Verlander of the Tigers, in which case Buchholz surrendered just one earned run in seven innings pitched. Simply put, he's been solid.
Buccholz has taken a bit of time before catching on in 2009, as his most notably bad experience took place during a start against Baltimore. It looks like he's quickly building on his experience and putting his bad starts behind him.
Incidentally, Buchholz was the subject of many rumors leading up to the trade deadline. It's very well possible that these rumors had a real impact on his performance, which is when his struggles essentially took place.
Don't let the haters fool you: Buchholz is for real and this three-start trial by fire against three of the AL's best shouldn't be overlooked. Those that say he isn't pitching well should explain what their criteria is, because from everything I'm seeing, this is exactly what you should expect from a top prospect with 25 career starts pitching for one of the highest-profile and most covered teams in sports.
You have to like thinking ahead to a rotation featuring Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Matsusaka and Buchholz in 2010, but there's a lot of baseball this season to be played and more opportunities for him to evolve into an ace of his own.
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