Buchholz Impressive in Season Debut

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The Boston Red Sox opened up the 2nd half of the 09' season with one of the more interesting wins of the season. Why was this game so interesting? Well, it showcased the season debut of Clay Buchholz. The young righthander was just a third of an inning away from getting an official "Quality Start". He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits. He did walk 3 while striking out 3 batters. By no means was he dominant, but there's no doubt he did pitch well, and deserves additional starts in the bigs. Unfortunately for him, it looks like he's headed directly back to Pawtucket.

The question I keep asking myself is, why did the Red Sox pitch Clay Buchholz tonight? In my mind, there are only two questions:

1. The Sox are showcasing Buchholz, especially to the Toronto Blue Jays, in the hopes of increasing his trade value.

2. The Sox want to see how he pitches at the big league level after spending the first half of the season dominating AAA batters.

If the Red Sox are looking to use Buchholz as trade bait, then they better get a top notch player in return. I'm talking either Roy Halladay or Victor Martinez. Of course it would take more, possibly much more, than Clay to get either player. I've said it all along that Buchholz would be the guy I use as trade bait. Not Michael Bowden, Not Justin Masterson and certainly not the closer of the future Daniel Bard. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not naive enough to think a MLB organization is going to decide to trade, or not trade, for Buchholz based on one start.

If the Red Sox wanted to see him at the big league level to determine if they could trade Brad Penny, than I think the answer is yes. He pitched well, and certainly could slot into the rotation for the remainder of the season if need be. The problem with trading Brad Penny is that the rate of return is so much less than for Buchholz. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the Sox are going to do.

Clay Buchholz's start was not the only story of the game, or day. Mike Lowell returned to the lineup and went 2 for 4 in his first game since June 27th. That is a positive sign for a team that needs depth at the corner infield positions. With the return of Lowell, and now Jed Lowrie, it looks like that depth has been shored up. Lowrie will see action at both shortstop and third base as he eases back into form. The final news of the day, was Sox designating Julio Lugo for assignment. This one must have hurt Theo Epstein. He fell in love years ago with the perpetually underachieving Lugo and now stands to lose the $13 million remaining on his contract. If lucky, Theo will be able to trade Lugo for a fringe prospect while assuming most, if not all, of the contract. If there's one knock on Theo Epstein, it's his penchant for falling in love with players and then signing them as a free agent for more money than they're worth. I see you there JD Drew.