Anyone who watched (or followed) last night’s rubber match against the Tampa Rays saw Clay Buchholz leave the game after pitching five strong innings due to an apparent injury. According to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, he was pulled due to lower back stiffness. Buchholz has struggled with back pain since early June, and this latest set back could cause him to either miss a start or be placed on the disabled list. Currently, the Red Sox have categorized his early exit as “precautionary,” and have yet to indicate their plans for Buchholz.
Luckily, with Andrew Miller‘s recent promotion, the Red Sox can afford to be cautious with their young potential ace, while still boasting a solid rotation 1-5. Assuming Buchholz misses a start or two (which seems likely), this would give the Red Sox would an opportunity to evaluate Miller at the big league level without having to shuffle Tim Wakefield in and out of the bullpen. If they decide to push back his next start a few days, it makes the most sense to start him at some point during their series in Pittsburgh. If they decided to push his start back any further, it’d probably make more sense for them to just DL him; thus clearing a roster spot.
Over Buchholz’s last eight starts, he’s really hit a groove going 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA and a 43/13 K/BB ratio in 49 innings.