SP Clay Buchholz, 4-9, 5.66 ERA, 1.41 WHIP in 95 1/3 innings
-0.2 fWAR (Fangraphs WAR)
-0.4 bWAR (Baseball-Reference WAR)
Over the last five years, Buchholz has settled into a Bret Saberhagen-like pattern of alternating good and bad years. Buchholz’ ERA has fluctuated greatly since 2011: 3.48, 4.56, 1.74, 5.34, 3.26, and 5.42. This is one of the bad years. Not only is it a bad year, it’s a very strange year for Buchholz. Over his career, he generally hasn’t had trouble with home runs, with a career 9.9 percent HR/FB rate. This year, his HR/FB rate is 13.2 percent. He’s also had a very different year when it comes to strikeouts and walks. Last year, he struck out 22.8 percent of the batters he faced and walked just 4.9 percent. This year, he’s struck out 14.5 percent and walked 10.1 percent.
Buchholz made 10 starts at the beginning of the year and was 2-5 with a 6.35 ERA through May 26. The Sox then put him in the bullpen and he’s been a bit better since, but still not great. He’s back in the rotation now because Steven Wright is on the DL. Buchholz did have a good start on Thursday when he limited the Detroit Tigers to one run in six innings. For the Red Sox sake, maybe he can keep pitching well because the poor performance by Buchholz is one of the reasons the Red Sox are fighting for a Wild Card spot instead of leading the AL East.
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