Friday, April 26, 2013

Day 26: Clay Buchholz: What a Difference A Year Makes!

After the horrific 2012 season the Red Sox had, you had to wonder if this team was going to ever come back from such bad juju. But they worked hard over the off-season to secure players they deemed "good clubhouse guys" and then you had to wonder if they were just going to call this year a rebuilding year. But then those "good clubhouse guys" gave us a little more and here we are, almost through the first month of the season and now you have to wonder if this team is for real.

I'm not going to lie, my biggest concern coming into 2013 was the pitching staff. With Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz anchoring the starting rotation, you could only hope they pulled their acts together over the winter and realize how much of a complete embarrassment this team was under the tutelage of that cretin, Bobby Valentine.

And what a difference a year makes!

Let's compare Clay Buchholz's stats—April 2012 vs. April 2013. After five starts this season, Buchholz is 5-0 with a 1.19 ERA, 37.2 innings pitched and 39 strikeouts. Opponents have hit a whopping .192 against the young right hander.

Flash back to last year at this time and it's a whole different story. After five starts, Clay was 3-1... ok, that's not too horrible, right? His ERA was 8.69...WHAT? And in 29 innings pitched, he gave up 28 earned runs and only struck out 16. Opponents teed off on his stuff, batting .331, including seven home runs. Geez... He was lucky to be 3-1.

I'm going to guess Buchholz is happy to see John Farrell back in Boston and that lunatic Valentine gone. I know I am! Now let's hope he can keep up the good work.

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