Red Sox vs. Phillies lineups and notes: Clay Buchholz Day
The Boston Red Sox are traveling today, sending a roster out to Clearwater, Florida to take on the Phillies.
It’s Clay Buchholz day (kinda) for the Red Sox, as they visit the Phillies. He won’t be starting for the Phillies, that will be Aaron Nola’s responsibility this afternoon. Nevertheless, this is our first glimpse at the former Red Sox in an opposing club’s uniform.
Buchholz was dealt in the winter for second base prospect Josh Tobias, far from the most glamorous of trades. Talking to reporters on Sunday, Buchholz told the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman (links here and here) that he expected the trade, but was surprised to not be part of the Chris Sale deal.
"“This is probably good for me, getting out of Boston in general.” Buchholz said, “It stinks to say that but seems like more people remember bad things that happened rather than good things.”"
Buchholz’s career with the Red Sox is best described as enigmatic. He rose up as a top prospect, finding himself on the top of Sox Prospects’ organizational rankings three times over the 2007 and 2008 seasons. There will be good memories: the no-hitter he threw in his first career start, his 1.74 ERA in 2013. And bad memories: persistent injuries, a 5.34 ERA in 2014, and eventual demotion to the bullpen last season.
As Buchholz admits, the bad will likely outweigh the good in the memories of Red Sox fans.
Lineup and Notes
The Red Sox will give their star players a day of rest following a split-squad day on Saturday. The lineup features some players that will make the major league roster (Sandoval & Rutledge) others that are competing for a spot (Swihart & Craig (?)) and those that are trying to restart their careers (Dominguez & Quentin).
- Steve Selsky, CF
- Josh Rutledge, SS
- Pablo Sandoval, 3B
- Allen Craig, DH
- Blake Swihart, C
- Chris Dominguez, 1B
- Carlos Quentin, LF
- Junior Lake, RF
- Mike Miller, 2B
Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound, looking to continue building up his confidence after a rough season last year. He owns a 3.60 ERA in five innings pitched this spring.
Aaron Nola gets the start for the Phillies, his third of Spring Training. He pitched two innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits against the Tigers in his last outing.
Next: Catching up with Brandon Moss
First pitch is at 1:07, the game is available on NESN or MLB.TV if you prefer streaming.