8/19: Buchholz takes on third straight ace.

Roy Halladay, current ace, takes on potential future ace, Clay Buchholz. Buchholz has been drawing aces for the past three starts now. Before this, he faced off with CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander, losing both games, but pitching decent enough.

Tweets on the Red Sox’s 25-man roster

In a homage to Twitter, the new social media application that is changing how news is delivered (in the same vein how blogs changed everything) I bring to you a summary of each Red Sox player on the 25-man roster in 140 characters or less (the maximum number of characters you can enter on Twitter).

Have Twitter? Follow me. Tim's on too. Oh, and Fire Brand has one as well. You'll notice that had you followed Fire Brand, you would have gotten all these tweets last night.

Buchholz a groundball pitcher?

So far is seems that way.

Keith Law responded to a question in his chat yesterday, asking whether or not Buchholz's Groundball percentage is real or not. Law's response:

"I only saw one outing but I could believe it. His arm slot was a little lower and his fastball had more life than I'd seen in the past (and it was harder - 92-96)."

Are we better off letting Jason Bay walk?

I had been thinking about this, and Evan mentioned it as well. But would the Red Sox be better off letting Jason Bay walk? Would they be better off taking the draft picks, finding a one-year stopgap. And hopefully letting Josh Reddick take over the position, at a very cheap price, and under club control for a while?

Look, we all know there is risk in expecting young players to contribute before they might be ready. Clay Buchholz was supposed to be the guy in 2008, supposed to be that ace. But he wasn't, and still isn't--although improved. Simply put, we don't know how good Josh Reddick will be. We expect big things, or good things, but we don't know. So putting faith in prospects does have its risks.

However, signing veterans to long term contracts also has risks. Jason Bay is not an up-the-middle defender. He is not 26--although not old by any means either. And he is a sub-par defender according to any defensive metric that matters. As he may not be atrocious in left, but he is far from good. And corner outfielders do impact a game much less than the premium positions do, at least in terms of run prevention.

About that Buchholz kid…

Clay Buchholz dominated Triple-A this year. There's no other way to put it. And yet, when he was recalled to finally take his place in the Red Sox rotation, it looked as if he was right back to being "Suckholz" of 2008.

He's started six games now. His ERA is at a less-than-sparkling 4.45 (but solid) with a 1-3 record. In 32.1 innings, he's struck out 20, walked 19 and given up 39 hits. It's been a tight-rope balancing act. When your K/BB ratio is pretty much 1:1, you tend to not be a good major league player.

Despite consistently having to come out of the game due to his erratic fastball control and always on the precipice of complete and utter disaster, Buchholz has actually shown poise on the mound, minimizing the risks that he finds himself in.

8/13: Buchholz vs. Verlander

Clay Buchholz hopes to build off of his last start as he squares off with Tigers Ace Justin Verlander. Get the sweep, BoSox.

PawSox manager on Buchholz: ‘He’ll be fine’

The Red Sox were gracious enough to issue me a press pass for the Pawtucket/Norfolk game at Fenway Park today. I barely made it into my seat for the first pitch thanks to some heavy traffic on the Pike. I saw Jake Arrieta, one of the Orioles' fabled pitching prospects, shut down a lethargic PawSox offense, 7-3.

After the game, I headed down to try to get some interviews, but only was able to grab manager Ron Johnson as everyone was skedaddling. I took the chance to talk about Clay Buchholz with him.

Enough is enough: Bring in a new starter

With John Smoltz's debacle in New York (granted, the stadium didn't do him any favors) behind us, it's time to look ahead and figure out how exactly we're going to make the playoffs with exactly two reliable pitchers in the rotation.

The biggest question I have right now is: how long do we wait? Daisuke Matsuzaka will not return for a month. Tim Wakefield... from what I'm hearing, I wouldn't be surprised if we've seen the last of him.

Do we really want to rely on Smoltz, Penny and Buchholz for the next month?

I can't even go on anymore. I'm too demoralized about the state of the pitching staff.

Is the rotation an unaddressed fatal flaw?

When the 2009 season began, there was very little doubt in anyone's mind that the Red Sox had both the depth and talent in the starting rotation for it to be considered, not only the teams' primary strength, but what made them favorites to advance to the World Series from the American League.

With dueling aces at the top in Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, depth in the middle with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and Brad Penny, and a plethora of options at the end ranging from top prospect Clay Buchholz to perennial All-Star and future Hall of Fame pitcher, John Smoltz, the front office had covered the rotation in spades. And that doesn't even look more deeply into the farm system or bullpen where the likes of Justin Masterson (since dealt away), Michael Bowden, and Junichi Tazawa lurked.

8/2: Clay hopes to develop further.

Buchholz hopes to evolve as a starter. Hopefully that fastball command can improve--hasn't been great in his first few starts of the season.