Clay Buchholz

#61 Clay Buchholz
Boston Red Sox - Starting Pitcher
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Height: 6'3	Weight: 190 lbs
Born on August 14, 1984 in Nederland, Texas
MLB Debut
August 17, 2007 for the Boston Red Sox
Draft
Picked no. 42 overall in round 1 of the 2005 draft by the Boston Red Sox.
Career Statistics
Updated July 28, 2015
Wins	73
ERA	3.85
Strikeouts	806
Teams
Boston Red Sox (2007-)
Career Highlights and Awards
1x World Champion (2007) Pitched no-hitter on September 1, 2007

Clay Buchholz (born August 14, 1984 in Nederland, Texas) is an American baseball starting pitcher with MLB's Boston Red Sox. Raised in Lumberton, Texas, Buchholz played baseball for the local youth baseball leagues until high school. After graduating from Lumberton High School, Clay briefly attended McNeese State University before transferring to Angelina College. He was drafted, at age 20, by the Red Sox in the supplemental first round (42nd pick) of the 2005 draft.

On September 1, 2007, he threw a no-hitter in his second Major League start, tying him with Wilson Alvarez for the second quickest no-hitter by a MLB pitcher. He is the first Red Sox rookie and 17th Red Sox pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

Career

College

In 2005, while competing for Angelina College, Buchholz played in 15 games, winning 12 and losing 1.

Winning %	CG	ERA	Innings Pitched	Hits	Runs	Earned Runs	BB	Strikeouts
92.3%	7	1.05	85.2	44	19	10	29	129

Minor leagues

In 2005, Buchholz was drafted by the Red Sox in the supplemental first round (42nd pick) of the 2005 draft. Some clubs passed on him in the draft because he was arrested in April 2004 and charged with stealing laptop computers from a middle school, but the Red Sox said it was a one-time incident and that they weren't worried about his makeup.

Buchholz pitched 41 1/3 innings for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League, compiling a record of 0-1 with 45 strikeouts in 15 starts. He then pitched for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Single A) and the Greenville Drive (Single A-Advanced). Between the two teams, Buchholz struck out 140 and walked 33 in 119 innings while going 11-4.

2007

Buchholz started his first spring training game in 2007 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He pitched 4.2 innings, gave up 7 hits and 3 runs, and recorded 3 strikeouts. While competing for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2007, Buchholz played in 16 games, winning 7 and losing 2. His success led him to be chosen to play in the All-Star Futures Game at AT&T Park.

Buchholz' AA Portland Sea Dogs Stats:

CG	ERA	Innings Pitched	Hits	Runs	Earned Runs	BB	Strikeouts
1	1.77	86.2	55	18	17	22	116

Buchholz was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox, the AAA affiliate of the Red Sox, on July 8, 2007. Due to poor run support, he finished the AAA season with a misleading 1-3 W-L record, while recording 55 strikeouts, 13 walks, and a 3.96 era over 8 starts in 38.2 AAA innings.

Buchholz made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on August 17, 2007 at Fenway Park. The Sox won the game 8-4 and he picked up the win going 6 innings and giving up 4 runs (3 earned). After the game, however, Buchholz was sent back down to the Sox' Triple-A team in Pawtucket. "I got my feet wet," he said to a reporter. "I hope I can come back in September and help out."

In Buchholz's second major league start on September 1, 2007, he became the first Boston Red Sox rookie to throw a no-hitter when he blanked the Baltimore Orioles 10-0. This was the 17th no-hitter in Red Sox history. Buchholz threw 115 pitches and struck out 9 hitters, walked 3, and hit Nick Markakis. After the game, Buchholz told the media "It's amazing. That's all I can say", and "I'm in a blur right now." According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Buchholz became the third pitcher since 1900 to pitch a no-hitter in his first or second major league start. Bobo Holloman did it in his first start on May 6, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns at home against the Philadelphia Athletics, and Wilson Alvarez did it in his second start on Aug. 11, 1991, for the Chicago White Sox at Baltimore. Buchholz became the 11th Red Sox to throw a no hitter in Fenway Park history.

Following the game, General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry (Tito) Francona each independently confirmed that they had spoken by phone to each other in the seventh and eighth innings concerning Buchholz's pitch count. He had not thrown more than 98 pitches in a game all year, and was threatening to significantly exceed that total if he finished the game. Epstein reported that in no way would Buchholz be allowed to face a batter after reaching 120 pitches, expressing concern about excessive pitches potentially damaging such a young and inexperienced arm. Buchholz finished the game with 115 pitches, allowing Francona to escape what would have been an unpleasant decision to remove a pitcher from the game in which he was throwing a no-hitter.

Buchholz was shut down for the final month of the season and the postseason due to wear and tear on his arm.

2008

In 2008, Buchholz made the starting rotation for the Red Sox out of Spring Training after Curt Schilling was injured in the off-season. Clay struggled early, but retained his spot in the rotation until the end of May, when Bartolo Colon made his debut. Buchholz was sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket being placed on the 15-day DL for a broken fingernail. Manager Terry Francona stated that the goal in sending Buchholz to the minors was to give him a chance to work on controlling his fastball, which had been a major problem for him during his time in the Majors. He was recalled on July 11, as Justin Masterson was being repackaged as a reliever. Buchholz struggled badly, losing the next six games that he started. With the acquisition of Paul Byrd from the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox announced that Buchholz would be removed from the rotation. However, due to the injury of Tim Wakefield and the ineffectiveness of Charlie Zink at the major league level, the Red Sox were forced to give Buchholz the start on August 17.

Scouting report

• Four-seam fastball (92-97 mph)
• Two-seam fastball (87-90 mph)
• Curveball (80-83 mph)
• Changeup (78-82 mph)
• Slider (85-87 mph)

Buchholz has a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a slider, curveball, and a changeup. His changeup and curveball are considered to be elite, devastating plus-plus pitches. He also played outfield at Angelina College. In 2006, Buchholz actually let loose towards the end of the season, when his fastball was sitting around 96 mph and occasionally hitting 97. However, over the course of the season his fastball typically sits around 92-95. His change-up is generally a straight change that sits around 78-82 mph. Buchholz's fastball and filthy off-speed pitches complementing his ability to pitch extremely well under pressure, causes many to draw frequent comparisons to the Boston Red Sox version of Pedro Martinez and Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Awards and honors

• Carolina League Pitcher of the Week (August 21 - 27, 2006)
• Red Sox ML Pitcher of the Month (August 2006)
• 2006 SoxProspects.com All-Star - RHSP
• 2006 SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year
• 2006 Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year
• 2007 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star - RHSP
• SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (April 29 - May 5, 2007)
• SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (May 20-26, 2007)
• SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month (May 2007)
• SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (May 27 - June 2, 2007)
• Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month (May 2007)
• 2007 Futures Game All Star
• 2007 Eastern League All Star
• SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (June 24-30, 2007)
• Eastern League Pitcher of the Week (June 25 - July 1, 2007)
• SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (August 5-11, 2007)

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

External links

• Video of Buchholz's windup,
• KDFM article,
• Boston Globe article,
• Scout.com article (subscription site)
• Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics