Clay Buchholz finds himself without a clear role in the Boston Red Sox bullpen, as he has been relegated to pitching only when the game is out of hand.
Throughout a dismal 2016 season that has undoubtedly been the worst of his career since he became a mainstay in the rotation, Clay Buchholz has made a habit of creating a mess. So it’s only fair that the Boston Red Sox hand him a mop.
The 31-year old may as well be wearing a custodian outfit in place of the customary Red Sox uniform in the rare event that he is summoned to take the mound, as his role has essentially been relegated to mop-up duty.
His spot in the rotation has been taken away from him on more than one occasion this season, with the Red Sox turning back to Buchholz at times only out of necessity. He is 2-8 with a brutal 6.31 ERA as a starter this season, forcing the Red Sox to banish him to the bullpen again. This time the switch is likely to stick.
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Buchholz has been better as a reliever, owning a 2.61 ERA over 10.1 innings of relief, while holding opposing hitters to a .189 average and .546 OPS. Those numbers would suggest Buchholz may thrive out of the bullpen, but manager John Farrell has avoided using him in pressure situations and admits to having no intention of using him unless the game is already out of hand.
Case in point was Wednesday night’s game, when starter Drew Pomeranz was knocked out in the fourth inning. That seemed like the perfect opportunity to turn to Buchholz, who is stretched out enough to provide multiple innings in a game where the bullpen needed to finish the final six innings. Clay was up warming at one point, but never got into the game. Instead, Farrell burned through his bullpen and used Matt Barnes for a season-high three innings because he couldn’t trust Buchholz in a close game.
"“If we’re down 8-3, he’s probably the guy,” Farrell told reporters prior to Thursday’s game, per MassLive’s Jen McCaffrey. “But when you’re up 8-5 and with the number of guys that were available last night, you know I’ll be honest with you – if we’re sitting in this situation today, you possibly are asking why did you use Clay if the game turned the other way and not use your other guys.”"
It leaves you to wonder how lopsided the score must be in order for Buchholz to be given an opportunity to pitch. Steven Wright‘s 8 strong innings in Thursday night’s win helped give the rest of the bullpen a rest, with Buchholz coming in to finish off the final frame with the Red Sox leading 13-2. It was his first appearance on the mound since Boston fell to the Los Angeles Angeles in a 21-2 shellacking on July 2.
Does the lead, or deficit, need to be double-digits before it’s deemed safe to use Buchholz?
Let's get #ClaySafe trending for any game the #RedSox have a big enough lead to consider using Buchholz.
— Sean Penney (@spenney83) July 22, 2016
If that’s the case, the roster spot is essentially wasted on him. The Red Sox need to find a way to trade him before the end of the month to a team willing to gamble that a change of scenery is all he needs to be revitalized. They won’t get much in return for him, but it will allow the Red Sox to replace him with a player that can actually be of value. Until then, they are essentially playing with a 24-man roster.
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If the Red Sox fail to ship him elsewhere before the trade deadline, they need to consider designating him for assignment. Time for both sides to cut their losses and move on.