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Clay Buchholz has been proving that he is a brilliant diamond in a pitching staff comprised of jagged, ugly gravel this season for the Boston Red Sox. He’s not perfect and he isn’t someone who the Red Sox can put all of their trust into, but he is easily their best and most consistent starter.
Even Buchholz’s losses aren’t terribly one-sided, and the blame can mostly be placed on a frozen offense. Going forward, it’s necessary that Buchholz takes some responsibility for his team and kick them into shape.
It’s doubtful that anyone has ever viewed Buchholz as a leader or even someone who can be a figurehead for the team. It didn’t seem like he acted that way in his most recent quality start against the Toronto Blue Jays, nor has it ever particularly appeared that way in any of his other performances this season.
Going forward, it’s likely that if Buchholz can rally the offense into creating — given Buchholz’s ERA that bounces around 3.5 — at least four runs, he can promise the team a win. As it stands, the Red Sox appear to just give up when faced with early offensive adversity. When they don’t score first, they turn in lackluster offensive performances in general.
Buchholz is worth something to the Red Sox, and it would be a mistake to get rid of him come this trade deadline after he has turned in solid performances like his most recent. Buchholz turns in lengthy, quality starts, and now it is his time to lead the rest of the pitching rotation to strive for the same.
Christopher Nicastro is a Boxing Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter, ‘like’ Rant Sports on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
