Saw Buchholz pitch last night (my 2 cents)

[nykgeneralmanager]

I posted this in the Red Sox forum, but since he is obviously in the minors I figured I'd post it here for anyone who wants to discuss Buchholz.


A few friends and I went down to Trenton for Clemens' outing, and when I got there I was happy to see he was going up against Buchholz (deep down inside I was more anxious to see Buchholz pitch).

He started off in trouble, allowing 4 hits to begin the 1st inning. However, one was a bunt single down the 3rd base line and another was a bloop into right field just between the 2B and RF, so he wasn't hit incredibly hard. Most of the other hits allowed throughout the rest of the game were singles through the hole, although some were hit rather well.

First off, his fastball didn't seem overpowering but he was able to locate it well for the most part. Almost all the hits came off of his fastball, a few were off of missed locations. It is clear that if he locates his fastball well, even without throwing that hard (similarly to Phil Hughes), hitters won't make great contact with it.

His curveball is filthy. Aside from the movement on it, he located it nearly perfectly. There were a number of times where the Trenton hitters were frozen as they watched it hit the corner, and the few times they did attempt to make contact with it, it was on a VERY weak hack. They were fooled and frozen by it all night, whether he threw it on a 1-0 count or 3-2.

I also liked his changeup very much. He didn't seem to throw it too often, but when he did, hitters were extremely early. One hitter was literally finished with his entire swing by the time the ball reached the catcher's mitt. He definitely throws the change with the same arm action as his fastball, it was clear as day. That is going to help make both his fastball and his changeup plus pitches down the road, if they aren't already.

I know he throws a slider as well, but it is hard to really tell when it is thrown. With no radar gun in the ballpark, sometimes I couldn't tell if he was throwing the fastball or slider, so I can't say much about the slider from what I saw.

Overall, the Sox have a blue chip prospect in their system that I can see being an ace in the majors. He could have anywhere from 2-4 plus pitches. I was VERY impressed.

[Bleeding Green]

He can get his fastball up to 97 as he did last year during the stretch run of the season.

It's going to be fun to see Hughes and Buchholz pitch against each other over the next 5-10 years.