Clay Buchholz

We here at Baseball Professor think about our readers first and ourselves second—albeit a close second. That’s why we decided to reach out to other bloggers (who follow their respective teams more closely than we do) to give you a deeper look into the important issues every fantasy owner has to come to grips with this season. Our seventh installment is with the Boston Red Sox and comes courtesy of Mike Silver from Fire Brand of the AL.

Before I get started, a tip of the cap from all of us in Red Sox nation to Theo Epstein, our maverick genius, our watchful protector, our Dark Kni-...never mind. But I stand in awe of what the 37 year old son of Brookline, MA has accomplished.

For the services of Adrian Gonzalez, he still managed to keep Jose Iglesias and our draft picks. Under the cover of darkness, he locked up one of the most complete outfielders in the game and disrupted the Yankee-Lee negotiations with his free hand.

The Red Sox have one of the most solid rotations in baseball, both in terms of on-field quality and stability.  They have six major league-ready starters and, barring injury, not many of their prospects will see a start. 

Jon Lester is one of my favorite pitchers in baseball.  I’ve loved him since 2008, when I stupidly refused to trade Shawn Marcum for him, and made sure I drafted him in 2009 and 2010.  

I mean, what’s not to like? 

I saw Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz pitch for the first time on June 26, 2007, in Manchester, NH. I instantly knew that I was watching a star in the making. I could not wait to get home to report what I had seen. I told Red Sox Nation to get to the ballpark to see him pitch and declared, “You’re in for a heckuva treat!”

Last year, Clay Buchholz was one of the bigger surprises in baseball. In his first full season on the MLB level, he finished with a 17-7 record, 2.33 ERA (second in the AL), and a 1.20 WHIP.

He finished sixth in Cy Young voting, and might have garnered more attention had he not missed nearly a month of the season from June to July.

It was a tremendous 2010 campaign for Clay Buchholz, who emerged as a great fantasy option despite pitching in the ultra-competitive AL East.  Now, owners have to decide if they think he can replicate these impressive numbers, or if a regression is in his future:

17 Wins
173.2 Innings
2.33 ERA
1.20 WHIP
120 Strikeouts (6.22 K/9)
67 Walks (3.47 BB/9)
.265 BABIP

The MLB Winter Meetings take place next Monday through Thursday and with a new regime in place, you'd figure a big trade will be made or at least attempted. After all, it's long overdue that the Mets part ways with a member or two of their "core." Why it's called that is confusing since the Mets have never won a pennant with those players.

Just when you thought there was at least one reason to watch the Red Sox for the remainder of the 2010 season, Clay Buchholz reminded Sox fans that the final Sunday can’t come soon enough.

The year 2010 has been the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball. It is filled with no-hitters and perfect games, from very different pitchers all throughout the league. 

Last year, Zack Greinke surprised us all by having a 3 under ERA, and earning 15 wins even with low run support. 

This year, only two pitching candidates are veterans, and one is only 24 years old (guess who it is)!

This has certainly been a surprising and exciting season thus far, and this discussion gives us another reason to love baseball.

Today's 2-1 win over the Yankees may have saved the Red Sox' season.  Traveling to New York to play a four game set with the Bronx Bombers, it looked very bleak for the Sox.  The Yankees were ready to send a knockout blow and send the Red Sox ten games back with a sweep.  But the Sox wouldn't have it.