It’s probably two years too late, but better late than never, as the Boston Red Sox traded Clay Buchholz on Tuesday.
Buchholz was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor league second baseman Josh Tobias.
Without even doing research on Tobias, I can confidently tell you that this is a good trade. Not just for the Red Sox, but also for Buchholz.
With the move being announced on Tuesday morning, I can imagine that most people in Boston have knocked Buchholz on the way out the door. Their anger is justified. Because Buchholz never fully lived up to the hype or the potential.
The right-hander is 32 years old and has been in the league since 2007, when he threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. I can remember talking about the possibility of trading Buchholz for Roy Halladay in 2009. And who can forget how he began the 2013 season?
Buchholz only made 16 starts that year. But it was undoubtedly the most dominant he ever looked. He finished the 2013 season 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA. He was 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA before going down with an injury in June that put him out through mid-September.
Had Buchholz not got injured, he might have been the American League starter in the All-Star Game. Up until that point, the kid was living up to the hype. He was bouncing off the rubber with a mid-90’s fastball that had some of the filthiest movement you’ve ever seen, making his changeup one of the dirtiest pitches in all of baseball. But then he got hurt.
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And for the most part of his career, injuries were a nagging issue. But that wasn’t all. Buchholz was also someone who seemed to be in his own head far too often. Whether it was his obsession with runners at first base, or the inevitable feeling that a couple walks would completely rattle his cage, it almost always felt like Boston just wasn’t the place for him.
Some will tell you that the pressure in this city is overrated. I’ve had players in multiple sports tell me it’s real, and if you don’t learn to get a grip on it quickly, that pressure can cause you to lose control.
The way Buchholz pitched during his final two months in a Red Sox uniform might not be the best defense for that argument. He earned the right to be the No. 3 starter in the playoff rotation. But that sample size is just too small for me to rule out that Buchholz’s biggest issue was between the ears.
If the injuries don’t catch up to him in Philadelphia like they did here in Boston, then perhaps the change of scenery will do him good, when it comes to the pressure that I believe he’s felt over the years while a member of the Red Sox.
For anyone who thought Buchholz had more trade value than this, then I’m just not sure you’ve been paying attention. The longer the Red Sox held onto him, the less trade value he had. At this point, they’re lucky to have received a 24-year-old prospect in return.
Buchholz needed to go. Not just for the Red Sox’ own good, but for his as well.
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