BUCHHOLZ OPTIONED TO AA

When talking about a younger player still in the developmental stages, I don't like to use the word "demoted" when they get shipped to Pawtucket or Portland. Buchholz being sent to Portland is very close to a demotion, but still isn't. He's going up there to rebuild his confidence. The Red Sox also want to keep him away from the mound, because quite frankly, he sucks.

To describe Clay Buchholz's appearance on the mound in one word:

shattered.

And hitters see that, and get even more confident. Pitchers are supposed to be the predators in baseball, not the prey.



There's no doubt that Buchholz has the talent, and the skill to be a solid Major League pitcher, slotting into a rotation as a #2 or #3 starter. And I'm not basing this on the no-hitter. Combining his performances in late 2007, and April of 2008, his numbers are good, especially for a kid:

43.1 IP, 40 H, 20 BB, 1.38 WHIP, 17 ER, 3.53 ERA, 3 HR, 49 K

But he hasn't had a Quality Start (6+ innings, 3 earned runs or less) since April 26th. He hasn't gone 5+ innings since August 4th. His starts have become devastating. He can't get past the 4th inning, handing the ball to the subpar bullpen. He has given the Red Sox very little chance of victory when he's pitching.

Where has the confidence gone? He certainly wasn't scared when he tossed a no-hitter last year. But he went from the calm and cool of a Tom Brady to the deer in the headlights of a Reche Caldwell. Why?



All Major League players hit snags, fall into slumps, go through bad stretches. For whatever reason, they're a little bit off, a little unlucky too, and they struggle. For almost all Major Leaguers, their first slump in the Majors, is also the first slump of their life.

Right before he made his Sox debut in August of last year, Buchholz prophetically said:

"The confidence you have in college, if you're a dominant player, hitter, or pitcher, you're confident everywhere you go. You get drafted and your confidence goes down, you're like, 'All these guys are really good, too. So I might not be that good.' You start second-guessing your stuff. That's when you get in trouble. That was the biggest change for me. At times I would second-guess my stuff instead of throwing it. That's when I got hurt."

History tends to repeat itself.

Buchholz went to Angelina CC, where he was lights out, winning Eastern Conference (junior college) Player of the Year. He was drafted in the 1st round, tore through the lower levels of the system, and won Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2006 and 2007.

Here's how good Clay's career looked before 2008:

Team:	W-L:	ERA:	WHIP:
Angelina CC	12-1	1.05	0.85
A Lowell	0-1	2.61	1.04
A Greenville	9-4	2.62	1.04
A Wilmington	2-0	1.13	0.88
AA Portland	7-2	1.77	0.89
AAA Pawtucket	1-3	3.96	1.16
Boston Red Sox	3-1	1.59	1.06

He hit a bit of a snag in AAA, but hardly long enough, or even bad enough to be considered a true slump. On May 7th of 2008, he a real rough patch. And he hasn't been able to get out of it. We've seen some clean innings, but then he'll allow a hit or two, and fold like Superman on laundry day. His demeanor is fragile. He goes to the mound with a shred of confidence, but loses it when he makes any sort of mistake.

Other young pitchers like Papelbon and Lester have been able to work through their slumps. Buchholz is mired in his. A slump is like quicksand; the more you panic, the worse it gets. Buchholz is panicking. And neither he, nor the Red Sox can afford the fruits of this panic.

This move was necessary, and overdue. I don't want Buchholz starting anymore games for the Red Sox in 2008.

But who the hell is going to replace him?

Sources:
Hartford Courant
ESPN.com
The Baseball Cube
SoxProspects.com
Boston Globe

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Nick Wass
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

LESTER SAVES THE DAY... AGAIN

After an embarrassing home sweep to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox needed a nice boost on the road. Jon Lester provided that. The bullpen made things a bit too interesting, but Jason Bay provided some nice insurance in the 8th and 9th innings.

Bay was 3 for 5 with a solo homer, a 2 run homer, and 4 RBI. In 16 games with the Red Sox, he's knocked in 16 runs, and hit .348.

But the bullpen found ways to suck, once more. Delcarmen was brought in to pitch the 8th. He got two quick outs, then allowed two walks, putting the tying run at the plate in Aubrey Huff. Yet again, Francona was forced to bring Papelbon in early. Pap gave up a double, then retired 4 straight for the save.

When I did my preview for the Red Sox back in March, I said that Delcarmen would be an important key to the success or failure of the bullpen. And he has been. He hasn't been terrible, but he's been unreliable. This unreliability has only been amplified by the lack of faith anyone has in Okajima.

It's simply too bad that the Red Sox had a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning, and you have no idea who should pitch the 8th, and it's seemingly 50/50 that the Sox will lose.

Daisuke goes for win #15 Tuesday night. He faces Daniel Cabrera.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Nick Wass

OLYMPIC GRIPES

I don't hate the Olympics, but I hate the bullshit that surrounds and envelops the Olympics like pink hats around Jacoby Ellsbury. And I do hate China, with a passion. And I hate the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

2012 will see no more baseball at the Olympic games. Why not? I don't really know. Baseball isn't just played in the US. It's played in the entire Western Hemisphere, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Europe. Seeing the Cuban national team is a treat every 4 years because the talent is near Major League levels. But it won't be an Olympic sport in 2012, and neither will softball.

Yet these are Olympic sports:

Race walking.



Only Europeans could come up with this. It's a race on foot, but you can't run. If you run, you're disqualified. It looks pretty hard, but it looks pretty retarded.

Ping pong.



It's not table tennis, it's fucking ping pong! They actually have DOUBLES ping pong in the Olympics! Is gold that worthless that it's given out every 4 years to 2 Asian dudes who are sick at ping pong?

And if ping pong is an Olympic sport why not...?



Or this...



Or bowling, or mini-golf, or pool, or darts, or Beirut, or flip cup, or speed reading, or seeing who can go the longest without sleeping, or Edward 40 hands, or running backwards, or staring contests???

And can ESPN, NBC, and everyone else in the universe all give Michael Phelps some rest and get off his junk? Yes, he's a phenomenal athlete and deserves all the medals, endorsements, praise, and groupies he'll get.



But this whole debating bullshit is melting my brain. "Is he the best Olympian ever?" How the fuck could anybody know that?!? It's hard enough to compare athletes from different eras in the same sport, but when you start comparing him to Jim Thorpe (decathlon/pentathlon/long jump/high jump), and Jesse Owens (sprinter/long jump); you're wasting your time. Can't we just sit back and enjoy the events without having to wonder if he's the best, 2nd best, or 3rd best ever?

And China can go straight to hell. So can the IOC. The big argument for China getting the 2008 games was "if Nazi Germany got them in 1936, why not China?" But Nazi Germany used the games as propaganda. It was a chance for Hitler to impress his country (and the world) on the biggest possible stage. So why are we allowing China to do the same thing?

The glamour and scale of the Opening Ceremony was eerily similar to the grandiose spectacles the Nazis used in their rallies, and the Soviets used in their big May-Day parades.



The fuckos who think the Olympics are some sort of peace-creating lovefest piss me off most of all. The Olympics have nothing to do with peace, and just a little bit to do with sports. They're an opportunity for governments to aggrandize themselves, to make themsevles seem amazingly powerful in the eyes of their own people. They're a monstrous platform for enormous multinational corporations to sell their products. McDonalds, Visa, Coca-Cola and 9 other companies paid $866 million just to be able to put the Olympic logo on their products and put up signs at Olympic facilities.

The Olympics aren't a peaceful time outside the host city, and even inside it. Just ask the people right now in Georgia, or the 1972 Israeli Olympic team, or the 2 people who died in Atlanta in '96. And they don't spread peace or goodwill, either. In 1968, Mexico City hosted the games, but their dictatorial government massacred hundreds of protesters that same year. And I don't need to tell you what Germany did post-1936, when Berlin was the host city.

The Olympics are sports, and some of them are fun to watch. I prefer the Winter Olympics, with the best hockey competition in the world. And I have a sick curling fetish. But most of it is bullshit. Michael Phelps is not the greatest athlete of all time. China is not a good country. McDonalds has nothing to do with athleticism.

-The Commodore

WHAT THE BUCC?

The Patriots struggled without Brady once again, falling to Tampa Bay 27-10 last night. Matt Cassel looked better than he did in the first preseason game, which isn't saying much. He was 6 for 10 with 57 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. He still looked stiff, deliberate, and telegraphed. He doesn't do anything to deceive defenses, and that results in tipped balls, passes being broken up, and interceptions.

Kevin O'Connell didn't look good either. The most impressive thing about O'Connell are his quick feet, which is a bad sign for an NFL quarterback. He was 6 for 15 with an interception.

Welker and Moss both played, and both looked as good as they did last year.

Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable again had solid performances. Mayo led the team in tackles with 7. Crable made 4 tackles, including a sack.

CJ Jones had a good game. He caught two passes for 31 yards. He returned a kick 20 yards, and averaged 13 yards on his two punt returns.

As a team, the Patriots were dominated in almost all aspects of the game. The Buccaneers outrushed them (170 yards to 56), and controlled time of possession (37:58 to 22:02). The Pats were 3 of 11 on 3rd downs, and turned the ball over twice.



When do you start to worry? Not yet. It's preseason, folks, remember that. The NFL MVP hasn't been under center, yet. The defense has been full of part-timers struggling for roster spots. If Brady doesn't play in Friday's game against Philadelphia, or the Patriots have another awful game; then it will be time to worry.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Carl Roberts
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

FROM FEAST TO FAMINE

The one thing that's been consistent about the Red Sox offense is its inconsistency. After a mere 1 run off Roy Halladay on Saturday, the Sox only managed 4 meaningless runs in a 15-4 route by the Blue Jays on Sunday. With Tampa Bay's victory, the Sox are now 4.5 out of the divisional lead, and have a slim 0.5 game lead in the wild card.

The game was pretty much lost in the 1st inning, when Josh Beckett was touched for 6 runs. He wound up allowing 8 over 2.1 innings. The bullpen allowed 7 more, but the 8 was plenty to beat the Sox. It was a very rare short start for Beckett, the shortest he's made in 2 years. 5 different Sox pitchers allowed runs in this game.

JD Drew left the game in the 3rd with tightness in his lower back. After the game, Francona said:

"We were getting guys out anyway, but he said his back was stiff, that makes it an easy decision."

So if it hadn't been 8-0 at that point, Drew might have stayed in. This doesn't seem like a serious injury, but JD Drew and the disabled list have a lengthy relationship, and any injury with him is potentially troublesome.

The Sox go on the road to Baltimore. Jon Lester faces 10-8 Jeremy Guthrie Monday night.

Sources:
ESPN.com
MLB.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

BAD DAY FOR BYRD TO MAKE SOX DEBUT

Paul Byrd was decent in his first start for the Sox. But in order to win, he had to have been perfect. Roy Halladay was simply on. 8th complete game for the Blue Jays' Ace. The Sox got a few runners on, but also grounded into a couple of big double plays.

The only thing you can say about this game is that Roy Halladay is freakin good.

Shaun Marcum vs. Josh Beckett Sunday afternoon. Marcum has a 3.42 ERA and a 7-5 record, so he's no slouch.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN LYNCH

The Patriots signed 16 year veteran John Lynch to a 1 year deal, reportedly worth $1.5 million. This was in response to losing newly acquired safety/linebacker Tank Williams to a season ending knee injury. I'm not getting overly excited about this signing, although the temptation to drive down to the Pro Shop and look for a #47 jersey is strong.



Lynch turns 37 in September. He's no longer a full-time player. And he's never been that great in pass coverage. But what he can do is come in on running/short passing downs (1st and 10, 2nd and 7, and so on) and plug up any gaps in the front 7. Having Lynch behind them will allow the linebackers to be more aggressive in stopping the run.

Lynch allows Rodney Harrison to stay fresh and healthy. Harrison's been plagued by injuries the past few seasons, and he's also been quieter on the field than we're used to seeing. If he's given time to rest, he'll be a much more effective playmaker.

So even though this acquisition doesn't significantly help the pass coverage situation, it helps the defense overall.

Just in case you're wondering, that picture is of New Hampshire Governor John Lynch.

Source:
Associated Press

EVEN MORE OFFENSE

The Red Sox finished their 3 game sweep of the Rangers with a 10-0 victory, capping one of the most productive series in recent Red Sox history.

In this 3 game set, the Red Sox scored 37 runs, had 42 hits, hit 5 homeruns, and 15 doubles. David Ortiz was 5 for 10 with 9 RBI. Kevin Youkilis was 7 for 13 with 7 RBI. Jed Lowrie was 7 for 12 with 5 RBI.

The Rangers have one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball, but this was still an impressive series for the Sox. 5% of the runs the Rangers have allowed this season came in the last 3 games. And 5.9% of the runs the Red Sox have scored came in the last 3 games.

Daisuke had a typical Matsuzaka start, somehow going 7 scoreless innings despite allowing 6 hits and 5 walks. The fact that he has 14 wins and a 2.74 ERA flies in the face of conventional pitching wisdom. His WHIP is almost the exact same as it was last year (1.32 in 2007, 1.34 in 2008). He's walking batters more often, but he isn't allowing hits (specifically, he isn't allowing extra basehits) that would knock them in.

I hope everyone out there enjoyed the offensive explosion these past few days, because things are about to change. The team with the lowest ERA in all of baseball is coming to town: the Toronto Blue Jays. Paul Byrd will be making his Red Sox debut against Roy Halladay Friday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Steven Senne