Who the hell is Clay Buchholz? Most Red Sox fans barely knew him before he tossed his no-hit gem Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. It was just his second major league start making him the third pitcher to throw a no-hitter in first or second major league start.
He joins Bobo Holloman who did it in his major league debut on May 6, 1953 with the St. Louis Browns. He no-hit the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-0 in Sportsman’s Park. Wilson Alvarez did it in his second career start for the Chicago White Sox on August 11, 1991 when he no-hit the Baltimore Orioles 7-0, in Memorial Stadium. It was Alvarez’ first start with Chicago, his previous major league start came in 1989 with Texas. He was just 21 years old when he threw his no-hitter.
The Red Sox drafted Buchholz in the first round (42nd overall) of the 2005 draft out of Angelina Junior College. The 6′3″ right hander is from Lumberton TX and just turned 23 three days prior to his major league debut in August. Many people compare him as the right-handed version of Philadelphia Phillies starter Cole Hamels, who is also 23.
In 2006, his second season in pro ball, he was named the Boston Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year. In stops in Wilmington and Greenville, he made a combined 24 starts compiling an 11-4 record with a 2.42 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. This year in Portland and Pawtucket he had made 23 starts going 8-5 with a 2.80 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.
He gained notoriety earlier this season when pitching for Portland he was matched up against Roger Clemens on his minor league rehab tour in a game televised on ESPN. In the eyes the writers, executives and scouts that were present he out pitched the 350 game winner and future hall of fame member. That’s huge praise and a lot of pressure to put on a 22 year old but his pitching coaches say he has ice water in his veins and nothing bothers him on the mound.
In fact he looked more collected on the mound than answering questions from NESN’s Tina Cervasio immediately following his feat.
Widely considered the best pitching prospect Boston has developed since Clemens, Buchholz throws hard he can top out at 97 mph but usually is in the 92-94 mph range. He also has a nasty big over the top 12 to 6 curve ball, that scouts say is the best of any pitcher in the Boston organization at any level. Add in a change up, a great mound presence as well as composure and this kids stuff is devastating. Just ask the Baltimore Orioles.
What a lot of people don’t know about Buchholz is that while he went in the first round as pitcher, scouts say he could have gone in the 5th round as a position player. He is extremely athletic and he showed it Saturday night when he made an awkward looking stab of a hard hit ball back towards the mound.
It shouldn’t surprise you that as a Texan his idols are Nolan Ryan and Clemens. But he says he has also learned a lot from Curt Schilling and Jason Varitek. During the no-hitter it appeared that he never shook Varitek off once. He put all his faith in his veteran catcher and it paid off. The pair worked seamlessly continually backing up pitches. (Ed. Note: a pitcher backs up pitches when he throws the same pitch to the same batter back-to-back.) The duo also wasn’t afraid to throw any pitch in any count. You saw this when in several 2-0 hitter’s counts, where typically the batter can expect a fastball, Buchholz wasn’t shy about throwing his curve or a change up.
Buck, as he is known to his teammates, has all the intangibles to go far. He has the make up of an ace and the talent of one to boot. Watching his two major league starts you can see this kid is the real deal. Folks we have seen the future, his name is Clay Buchholz.
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Great post Steve.
It’s going to be fun watching him pitch over the next 15-20 years.
Actually,
Most real Red Sox fans have known about Buchholz since the Red Sox drafted him in the 2005 First Year Player draft (42nd overall). He has always had electric stuff but he developed the devastating change-up in the minors. He has been THE rising star in the system in the last two years. So your headline makes you sound uninformed.
DR
I used to sit across the aisle on the bus from him when he started his college career at McNeese State. Always seemed like a really quiet guy, pretty nice too. Shame about him getting kicked off the team and what he did, but it turned out the best for him anyway. Even though I only knew him for a short time, I am very glad to see him doing well in his first two starts and hope he keeps it up. What a whale of a way to follow up a good debut.
excuse me DR for sounding uninformed. But MOST Red Sox fans don’t even know who the prospects are until they get continual mention on NESN before, during and after games so don’t fool yourself. A portion of the readers that come to this blog aren’t even Sox fans and 95% probably never heard of the kid before or knew every little about him.
if I’m uninformed why dont you add something to the comments that wasn’t part of the articles we did and bring something to the table.
In fact take a cue from Fitsy and GFY. Seeing as youre so informed you’ll know exactly what I just told you.
Chances are if someone is coming to a Sox blog they are pretty diehard and DO know about prospects coming up in the system. If his win in his debut against the Angels didn’t put people on notice, then the no hitter certainly will. This kid is MONEY.
This article went to a national site so with the hits it generates it will be seen by many non-Sox fans, who are baseball fans. I look at a lot of blogs over the course of a week from different teams. Sometimes, I know very little about the players they are discussing.
Someimes when Ian and I write things, we write them with the intention of them being used in many places through link backs. This was one of those cases. The title isn’t insulting Red Sox fans in the know it’s introducing the baseball world to this wonderful prospect we have in our midst.
I think what people are missing in the “Who the hell is Clay Buchholz” analogy is the context and spirit of the article. I came up with that line because it was the guys second big league start and it was a remarkable achivement. I liken it to when Tom Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe. Sure diehard Pats fans knew who the guy was but there were also many fans, even the well versed, who sat and watched him week after week and said “who the hell is this guy”? The same case can be made for Buchholz.
And Dan you are right, that kid is MONEY.
I totally agree with you Steve. We write a lot of things to generate link backs from other blogs as well to be informative to the regular readers.
If someone like Elvis Andrus got called up to the Rangers and hit 4 home runs in a game, a lot of people would be like who the hell is he. So in this case it’s no different. Not everyone who comes here is a Sox fan, so by us being as informative as we can, it’s only a bonus in the long run.
Unless you are a diehard fan of your team, you might not know who other prospects are. You hear about them when they get called up and when trades happen. Serious fantasy league guys know who the prospects are for all teams because most leagues have a fantasy draft. I actually drafted Buchholz in the minors part of my draft and used him in a trade.
Not trying to nitpick, but a couple of important facts that would help the non-die hard Sox fan along. CB was a sandwich pick, which was rewarded to the team after Pedro signed with the Mets. That’s a really big deal in my opinion, because if CB is a super stud then it will make that pill easier to swallow after “everyone” complained about management letting Pedro walk.
Secondly, there is somebody who goes by Employee #58 who would like words with you when the discussion of “widely considered the best pitching prospect since Clemens” comes up. CB has pitched two games. Papelbon has dominated for two seasons. I think he has a fairly significant edge right now.
Before we start buying up all of the CB jerseys we can get our hands on and anointing him the 2008 ROY we need to remember that for every Papelbon you have a Todd Benzinger, Lachelle Tarver, Sam Horn, Phil Plantier and so on and so on. I think CB is going to be a very good pitcher, but let’s all give him a chance to overcome some struggles to see what he’s really made of.
Giro,
Prospects are players who haven’t established themselves yet. I think with nearly 70 saves and two all-star teams in two seasons Papelbon is a bit more than a prospect.
In fact scouts say Buchholz has more potential because he has that curve ball that Papelbon doesn’t really have.