Clay Buchholz

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CLAY BUCHHOLZ

Age: 23
Born: August 14, 1984
Lumberton, TX
Height: 6-3
Weight: 190
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Drafted: 2005, 1st
How Acquired: 42nd overall pick in the 2005 draft
College: Angelina Junior College
High School: Lumberton HS (TX)
ETA: Early to Mid-2008
MLB Comparison: Cole Hamels (righty version)

[Cronin]

-Power Pitcher
-Topped out as high as 97 this past year
-Throws a lot of 2-seamers, which he likes to work back over the plate
-Also throws 4-seamers, mostly trying to get hitters to chase
-Mixes in a curve, slider, and circle-change
-Slider is probably his second best pitch. It has a pretty tight spin and was an out pitch for him this past season

-Throws from two different arm levels. He's over the top a lot, but will drop to more three quarters for his 2-seamers and sliders. The movement is different from each angle, so he'll come from both with all four of my pitches. Uses the lower arm-slot with his 2-seamers and sliders as an out pitch.

-Feels he needs to become mentally tougher. All hitters can hit, and he'll need to make the adjustment as his outings become longer.

-Confident in what he wants to throw, and will shake off anything.
-Takes charting and videotaping seriously, and goes out there with a good idea of what he wants to do.
-Watches how hitters are reacting to a pitch, and works off of that. The first time through a line-up he learns a lot.
-Gets into a serious mode once the game starts.

-Pretty good at pitching out of the stretch and holding runners.
-In high school, used to be the type that would pick off guys.
-Would throw over and take the spring out of their legs.
-Comfortable out of the stretch.
-Will use a slide-step and doesn't feel like he loses anything with it.

-Enjoys running, learning guitar, and thinks Kevin Millar was the most underrated player on the Sox in 2005.

[Cronin]

Scouting Report: Buchholz has a low-to-mid 90s four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball with decent movement, a slider, a hard 12-to-6 curveball, and a change-up. In 2006, Buchholz actually let loose towards the end of the season, when his fastball was sitting around 96 mph. However, over the course of the season his fastball typically sits around 91-94 and tops out at about 97 mph. His plus change-up is generally a straight change that sits around 78-82 mph; he also throws a circle change. His curveball, the best in the organization, sits between 76-81 mph with a knee-buckling bite. On any given night, Buchholz's curve or change can be unhittable, and he tends to rely on whichever is on as his out pitch throughout the game. His slider, while average to above average, is a bit behind his other secondary pitches and sits in the low to mid 80s. Mixes in all of his pitches phenomenally. Good demeanor on the mound. Pitches well under pressure, pitching coaches have said he has ice water running through his veins. Nice pick-off move. Struggled with consistency early in his pro career, but otherwise has ace makeup. Might need to add and maintain some weight to endure a full major league season.

[Cronin]

Clay interview

[bosox3431]

just so you know he is 22, and will be 23 in 5 days

[Cronin]

just so you know he is 22, and will be 23 in 5 days

Very true. Thanks for the heads up

[Cronin]

Clay's scheduled to pitch tommarow night, I'll keep you up to date!

[Cronin]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — When he’s at his best, Clay Buchholz is all but unhittable. And even when he’s not, he’s pretty darn good.

Last night against the Syracuse Chiefs, Buchholz displayed a bit of both, which was good enough to help the Pawtucket Red Sox notch a 6-3 win in front of 6,621 fans at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Joe McEwing (3-for-5) and Jed Lowrie (2-for-4) paced the Pawtucket attack, each knocking in two runs as the PawSox won their third straight.

Buchholz (1-1) issued just two walks in his five-inning stint. One of those baserunners eventually scored.

He also allowed just three hits, but two of those were solo shots over the right-field fence.

“I think he’ll (admit),” said PawSox catcher Kevin Cash, “that he wasn’t as sharp as he would have like to have been. Stuff-wise, he probably had bits and pieces of it. But that shows how talented he is.”

Indeed.

The young phenom, making just his sixth Triple-A start, was often overpowering. He struck out nine hitters (for the third straight outing), and earned his first win since his July 11 promotion from Double-A Portland.

“It’s really refreshing,” said McEwing, the gray-haired veteran about the youthful Buchholz, “to see a guy who can dominate a game. To see the maturity and adjustments that he makes, game to game. Today, he might not have had his best stuff, but they still had only three hits.”

Run-scoring singles in the second by Alex Prieto and Ed Rogers off Syracuse starter Josh Banks (10-9) put Pawtucket ahead, 2-1.

Next inning, McEwing cracked a lead-off double, then was singled home by Lowrie.

Pawtucket opened up a 6-2 lead, when McEwing smacked a two-run double, then was singled in for the second time by Lowrie.

“If you have quality at-bats,” McEwing said, “and you play to win, everything else takes care of itself.”

It may have taken him a while, but Buchholz slowly hit his stride.

In the third, he gave up a lead-off homer to Sal Fasano, followed by a single to Ryan Roberts, before striking out the side.

Buchholz retired the first two batters in the fourth before allowing a lead-off shot by former Red Sox prospect John Hattig. Buchholz struck out Fasano, but the ball bounded away, allowing Fasano to reach.

But he closed out the inning by freezing Roberts with a 94-mph. fastball.

“The outcome was great,” Buchholz said. “But in the same sense, I didn’t have everything I had in the last couple of starts. But by the time the fourth inning rolled around, I knew what I had in my pocket, and I went after them with that.”

Buchholz closed out his 80-pitch performance by retiring the Chiefs in order, striking out the last two he faced.

A trio of PawSox relievers — Craig Breslow, Javier Lopez and Bryan Corey — took it from there, allowing just runner over the final four frames.

[Cronin]

According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are likely to call up Clay Buchholz to start one of the game's in Friday's doubleheader.
Nothing official has been announced yet because the Red Sox are said to be trying to clear roster space, perhaps by trading Wily Mo Pena. Buchholz is among the elite pitching prospects in baseball and has moved very quickly this season.

-Roto

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Clay to make his first Major League start today!

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Final line: 6IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K's

[Cronin]

And he get's a win in his first start!

[PapelbonLester]

im very sad the game is over and i wont be able to watch him start again till next year..... very depressing but a great game might i add this was against the first place angels.

[Cronin]

Throws a no-hitter!!!!

[sboyajian]

Throws a no-hitter!!!!

Ok.. you win... Adopt-A-Prospect over.