Lester Or Buchholz: Who Stays?

April 16th, 2008 by Zach Hayes

Monday night

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 Filed under Bartolo Colon, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester
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6 Comments to “Lester Or Buchholz: Who Stays?”

  • Russ says:
    April 16, 2008 at 12:33 AM

    Good question and writeup. Lester and Bucky are both big pieces of the puzzle for the Sox this year. We know that management wants to protect Bucky’s innings pitched, but Lester is coming off of cancer too and you don’t want to push him too far too soon either. If it as my call, I would go with the hotter hand. If Buchholz can come up with another solid outing today vs. the Yanks, then I think that qualifies him as “hotter”. In the end, i’m sure that both will play big roles this season and if I was mgt, I would target 170-180 IP for both.

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  • TALL THRILL says:
    April 16, 2008 at 11:04 AM

    The Red Sox could always put Beckett on the 15 day DL for pink eye. When he is ready to come back we put Buchholz on the 15 day DL for pink eye. That keeps them both rested for October. And if Lester is still struggling with his control, we can give him pink eye too an let him do a few “rehab” assignments to work on it.

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  • Tim Daloisio says:
    April 16, 2008 at 11:53 AM

    I think that Buchholz’ innings pitched limits will dictate that he go down and pitch limited innings starts in AAA when Colon comes up. Lester’s ready for a larger inning load this season so there is very little chance (in my opinion) that Lester would stay and Buchholz go.
    Although, I may not disagree that Buchholz is looking a little more polished right now.

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  • hynes says:
    April 16, 2008 at 1:16 PM

    I would think Clay would get sent down if Colon gets the call up in the next week or so. I think what Lester is going through right now reminds me of Dice-K’s year in 07 and Beckett in 06. Brilliant at times and then flirts with trouble by way of the walk and untimely hit. It takes time, but I think Lester is going to be fine. He was cruising Tuesday night until the 4th, where he then proceeded to start walking people and giving up hits. He needs to learn to control pitches better, but I think he’s going to be a solid pitcher. And lets give Farrell a whole season to work with the kid. They’ll get better. It’s only April!

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  • Sam says:
    April 16, 2008 at 3:51 PM

    I really wish there was some way to send Lester down without messing with his confidence … he really does need to work a little more on pitching smart … as in keeping his pitches down in the zone … he could handle a few walks if he wasn’t trying to throw high fastballs so much … it does kinda remind me of Beckett
    I think if it wasn’t a matter of juggling Lester and possibly overworking Buchholz I would keep Buch around and let Lester work on his command at Pawtucket … but these guys are more than just now for us … they are the future
    plus like you said hynes … Give Farrell a chance to work with him … he has confidence in Lester I’ve heard and with time I would hope Lester and him can work these things out

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  • wicked clevah · Lester in the Pen says:
    April 16, 2008 at 6:21 PM

    [...] as MDC might be, however, it’s nothing compared to Lester. As Zach Hayes over at Fire Brand summarizes: So far this season, Lester has thrown one outstanding start against weak hitting Oakland, one [...]

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