I'm in complete agreement with you here. I can't understand what Buchholz's problem is. Is it just a simple matter of his being a head case?
Nobody is a sure thing....however, I would trust both Lester and Beckett in the playoffs, and you pretty much know Dice will give you 5-6 innings 2-3 runs like he always does. However, I don't trust Clay at all, he's a severe headcase, has #1 starter stuff but not mentally tough.
Frankly, this stuff strikes me as foolish, and a case of trying to fit an old narrative onto every piece of batter success that comes along: what is there in Buchholz's performance today that makes you think he's a head case as opposed to simply having poor command of the fastball?
If he's a headcase, why is he losing command in the 3rd inning of a meaningless game rather than in the games he pitched that actually counted? Maybe Buchholz, like Papelbon, needs high-stakes situations to focus his best -- if that's a headcase symptom, we can live with it.
So I was watching Tigers and Twins games...
Buchholz got knocked around?
Was there anything obvious about why?
The poor 3rd inning coincided with losing command of the slider, which in prior innings he was throwing whenever he needed a strike. He
missed the zone with the last seven sliders he threw (loss of control) and then
grooved two fastballs with men on base (loss of command).
