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September 28, 2007
BY STEVEN KRASNER
and JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writers
BOSTON -- Right-hander Clay Buchholz, who no-hit the Orioles on Sept. 1 in his second big-league start, is being shut down for the season by the Red Sox.
Manager Terry Francona said minutes ago that Buchholz's strength and mobility, among other things the organization test for on a regular basis, are not at the levels the Sox would like to see in order to have him continue to pitch.
So rather than risk his promising career by using him over the final three regular-season games and then in the postseason, the organization has decided to err on the side of caution.
Buchholz called himself ''sort of bitter'' about the decision.
''I feel a little bit tired right now, but it really wasn’t a big deal to me,'' said Buchholz. ''When they called me into the office I knew what it was about. They said they’ve been thinking about it for awhile; they’re thinking about the long-term issue.
''I understand that fact, but it feels like all the hard work, and the year I’ve put together this year, and to go home, I’m sort of bitter about it. It makes me want to work even harder and get back here next year.''
Francona met with general manager Theo Epstein and others in the organization to discuss Buchholz's status. Buchholz, who turned 23 last month, was told yesterday.
''Obviously this wasn’t our first choice,'' said Epstein. ''It wasn’t even our second choice. It was pretty much our last choice. Unfortunately, this is something, after talking with the medical staff, we have to do. Clay has been suffering from fatigue and a weak shoulder – on and off – this month. It’s to a point where he can’t pitch safely in October.''
Francona agreed.
''We test all of our pitchers and Clay is at the point where we're not real comfortable about having him go out there and pitch. He quite possibly could do it, but with what the future holds for him, we don't think that's the right thing to do," said Francona.
''There's some fatigue, and with that comes a lacking of strength,'' added Francona. ''To pitch him now, it would be very disrespectful to try and get some innings out of him. That's something that would not be in his best interests.''
There had been much talk this month, especially after his no-hitter, that the Red Sox were placing a ceiling on his total numbers of innings pitched this year in an attempt to keep him healthy for the future. Francona indicated this afternoon that the ceiling hadn't been reached, that this decision was strictly because his arm was showing signs of fatigue. Not injury, stressed Francona, but fatigue.
Buchholz, who began the year in Double A Portland and then moved up to Pawtucket before a quick trip to Boston for a one-day cup of coffee, an Aug. 17 start. He was sent back to Pawtucket after that game, an 8-4 win over the Angels, but was called back up on Sept. 1 when the rosters were expanded.
Buchholz pitched only twice after his 115-pitch no-no. He worked three innings in relief in Baltimore on Sept. 6 and he started against Toronto on Sept. 19, working the first 4 2/3 innings, throwing a total of 68 pitches. He took the loss in that one, a 6-1 setback. Buchholz, who showed impressive command with his fastball, curveball and changeup, finishes his first taste of the big leagues with a 3-1 record and a 1.59 earned-run average.
Before making it to the big leagues Buchholz went 7-2 with a 1.77 E.R.A. in 16 games for Portland and 1-3 with a 3.96 E.R.A. in eight starts for Pawtucket.
Buchholz had thrown some side sessions in the Boston bullpen this month, but Francona said the Sox kept him from throwing for four or five days so they could get the most accurate possible readings of the tests. The Sox were "excited" about the prospect of Buchholz contributing in the postseason, but had to be objective when it came to looking at the test results.
And those results prompted the Sox to call an end to Buchholz's glorious 2007 season.
''He’s been shut down for the year and he’ll start his rest for the offseason,'' said Epstein. ''He needs to go have a great winter of strengthening and conditioning and come back ready to throw a lot of innings next year.''
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 6:10 PM | Permalink
Dr. Strangeglove | September 28, 2007 5:52 PM link
Andrew | September 28, 2007 10:03 PM link
The "kid" is 23 years old. How much longer will it take his arm to become fully "developed"? This micro-General Managing, and their nauseous babying of mature prospects by Epstein and his Sabrmetric cronies might assure us another championship in maybe 2011.