| 21 June 2010
Five months ago, Clay Buchholz was fighting for a spot on the Red Sox roster.
After 6 2/3 shutout innings last night against the Dodgers, he earned his 10th win of the season and lowered his ERA to 2.47, making him one of the three best starter in the American League.
Here are the stats:
Clay Buchholz: 10-4, 2.47 ERA, 62/37 K/BB, .231 BAA
David Price: 10-3, 2.45 ERA, 73/37 K.BB, .224 BAA
Phil Hughes: 10-1, 3.17 ERA, 78/25 K/BB, .224 BAA
Who'd a thunk it, right?
Theo did...
He repeatedly refused to trade Buchholz over the past few years and his faith has been rewarded. With Beckett and Matsuzaka stuck on the DL for most of 2010, Buchholz has been a major factor in the Red Sox surge towards the top of the AL standings.
It's actually pretty amazing that the three best pitchers in AL are all young phenoms that have taken very different paths to arrive at this poin. Price was a force for the Rays out of the bullpen in 2008, was held back for monetary reasons in 2009 and is now fianlly flurishing as a full time starter. Hughes struggled in his first call up in 2007, was even worse in limited time in 2008 and then thrived in the bullpen in 2009. The Yankees toyed with the the development of both Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, but Hughes earned a starting role in Spring Training and never looked back. And we all know Buchhy's story... no hitter in 2007, a disasterous 2008 and a mediocre 2009, and finaly a battle for a starting role on the 2010 club.
There are other, more seasoned, pitchers that could make a run for the job as well, including Jon Lester (8-2, 3.13, 96 K), C.C. Sabathia (8-3, 3.68, 82 K), Jered Weaver (7-4, 3.04, 107 K) and Justin Verlander (8-4, 3.54, 85 K) to name a few... but with just over a month to go before the All-Star Game, but Buchholz should remain in the mix for the starting spot on the AL squad.
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