I wouldn't characterize Clay as inconsistent as that implies we don't know what we are getting out of him on any given start. He's actually fairly predictable......when he's going good he's freakin awesome, when he's not he's freakin awful. Many pitchers go through stretches like Clay, Bryan Harvey is in the same boat as Clay right now, it is head scratching however how Clay can be in this type of funk every other season.
And what does that have to do with the clubhouse? His teammates begged him to stay. Dude wanted to head back to the west coast. I can hardly blame him for that.
No. I didn't remember that at all. Guess it just got mentally filed with the rest of the Manny-being-Manny stuff.
But the predictability is only at the results level, and even there, it's basically predictable unpredictability. What's maddening about Clay is that his repertoire and tendencies keep morphing, and it's tempting to think that some particular wrinkle is the culprit, but his track record is such a random mess that it's hard to tease out any clarity. If you want to drive yourself insane sometime, spend an hour on his brooksbaseball player card page and see if you can make sense of it.
It's a horribly SSS, but outside of Hembree's first week in Boston, he's been pretty mediocre peripherally. In fact, in aggregate, he actually has a worse SwStr% than Buchholz, so if all you want Hembree to do is chew up 2-3 innings when needed (I think we all agree that guys like Ross, Layne, Barnes are ahead of him in the MR pecking order), then Buchholz could do that.
Brian Johnson just went on the inactive list to seek treatment for anxiety issues, so it's not outside the scope of the disabled list for it to be used for mental health reasons, but I'd imagine there would have to be a formal diagnosis rather than just "he needs a break".
Or simply remove him from the DL and option him to Pawtucket without sitting him down at all.
Remember, they placed him on waivers during the offseason (I'm sure Bowlerman will correct me if waivers is incorrect) and nobody claimed him. He didn't ask for a trade after that.
Agreed. Obviously you don't call up EdRo before he is fully healthy. I trust DD/JF would not pitch EdRo unless he is ready to go.
I understand your points about ERod and the fact that they have no other viable options in the minors right now.
http://www.overthemonster.com/2016/5/27/11795712/dfa-or-dl-clay-buchholz-has-no-place-in-the-bullpen
Unless velocity is something that they're focused on.
Fair point. I may be letting my Buchholz pessimism cloud my judgment on his spot in the rotation. I agree on Elias (or even O'Sullivan) instead of Clay.
Saw a couple folks say this on Twitter, too. O'Sullivan is equally as bad of a pitcher as Buchholz (as we sit right now, that doesn't even speak to their career rates) without any of the potential upside.
Thing is, Buchholz has to agree to go to AAA should they DFA him. Even if he clears waivers, he can refuse the assignment and force the team to trade or release him. If you were him and given the choice between getting the entirety of your contract with the freedom to go where ever you can find a team that wants you to pitch in the big leagues, and going to Pawtucket to ride buses for who knows how long (rest of the season?), which is the more likely choice?
I'm not getting on a soap box for O'Sullivan. He sucks too. My point was less about him than they need to start someone other than Buck until he gets his shit together, if ever.
Have to figure that since Buchholz was still under 80 pitches at that point, he sent him back out to try to steal a couple more outs before taxing his bullpen. That and Buchholz, after giving up the two HRs in the fifth, got the last three hitters in order. Maybe he figured Clay had gotten back to what got him through the first three innings untouched.
Even if he clears waivers, I find it hard to believe that any cellar-dweller is going to hasten to pick him up AND immediately put him into the rotation. I think he'd be much better off going to AAA and getting straightened out than going home and hoping that someone gets desperate enough to sign him. I guess we'll see.
I hear what you're saying, but at that point you're down four runs with four more shots at trying to score, not impossible given this offense. So if your going to pull him as soon as another potential run gets on base, why not just get him out of the game? Dude's damaged goods right now and IMO there is something to be said for not sending him back out there. And of course I realize that hindsight is 20/20, but it just didn't make much sense to me.
But if he goes to AAA, he's stuck there. He's at the mercy of the Red Sox to bring him back (or not). Not exactly an ideal situation. If he forces his release, he at least has some control in where he ends up next (and if it's home, so be it). And for the pro-rated league minimum, I think there'd easily be a handful of teams willing to pick him up, especially if a pitching coach or two thinks he knows how to fix him.
Hembree, most likely. He's been the long man/mop-up guy, which is likely the role Buchholz is ticketed for until he proves capable of something else.
Pretty obvious call is Hembree, who Farrell's been using as long man/mop-up, and who has options.
Who wants to trade for him at this low point?
An NL team with a good pitching coach where a GM thinks a change in scenery will benefit him. Return will be dependent if DD will packages other assets for another target asset. Just a hunch.
AZ
He's volunteered to pinch hit and pinch run. He seems to be a regular at team charity functions. And his gut-it-out performance in the 2013 World Series should ensure he too never has to buy a beer in this town again.
Difference being that Scherzer and Halladay got sent down when they still had options and no choice in the matter.
I agree with this assessment. This team could be headed for trouble if any of a couple of things happen - Wrights k rate craters or BB rate goes up (function of a wild or tumbling knuckler), Porcello goes back to leaving his two seamer in the top of the zone, or if the offense gets cold all at once.
Agreed, though I'm not ready to write off Kelly like that. 8 Ks in 4.2 is a good sign for him; it looked to me like he got a little unlucky, but mostly that loss is on Donaldson just having an unstoppable night.
