Clay Buchholz Pitcher

     
 

Born: August 14, 1984
Nedarland, TX
Height: 6-3
Weight: 190
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Drafted: 2005, 1st round
How Acquired: Draft
College: Angelina Junior College
High School: Lumberton HS (TX)


Links
Twelve Questions with Clay Buchholz

The Ladder - 5.20.09
Fire Brand Q&A (June 2009)

Photo © Kelly O'Connor

Traded to Philadelphia for Josh Tobias (Dec. 2016)

Scouting Report
: Buchholz has a low-to-mid-90s four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball with decent movement, a slider, a hard 12-to-6 curveball, and a changeup. His fastball typically sits around 91-94 mph, topping out at about 97 mph. However, he let loose at the end of the 2006 season, and his fastball sat around 96 mph. His plus changeup is generally a straight change that sits around 78-82 mph; he also throws a circle change. His curveball, the best in the organization, sits between 76-81 mph with knee-buckling bite. On any given night, Buchholz's curve or change can be unhittable, and he tends to rely on whichever one is working best as his out pitch throughout the game. His slider, while average to above average, is a bit behind his other secondary pitches and sits in the low-to-mid-80s. Mixes in all of his pitches phenomenally. Good demeanor on the mound. Pitches well under pressure. Pitching coaches have said he has ice water running through his veins. Nice pickoff move. He has struggled with consistency early in his big-league career, but otherwise has ace makeup. Might need to add and maintain some weight to endure a full major-league season. In September 2007, in just his second career major-league start, Buchholz threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles. In 2008, he had major struggles with command and confidence, leading to lackluster results. Returned to form in 2009.

 
   
    Career Stats                                          
  year team lg level org age w l % era g gs cg sh sv ip h r er hr bb so k/bb
  2005 Angelina JC NJCAA Coll --- 20 12 1 0.923 1.05 15 15 7 2 0 85.2 44 19 10 --- 29 129 4.45
  2005 Lowell NYPL A- Bos 20 0 1 0.000 2.61 15 15 0 0 0 41.1 34 15 12 2 9 45 5.00
  2006 Greenville SAL A Bos 21 9 4 0.692 2.62 21 21 0 0 0 103.0 78 34 30 10 29 117 4.03
  2006 Wilmington Car A+ Bos 21 2 0 1.000 1.13 3 3 0 0 0 16.0 10 4 2 0 4 23 5.75
  2007 Portland East AA Bos 22 7 2 0.778 1.77 16 15 1 0 0 86.2 55 18 17 4 22 116 5.27
  2007 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 22 1 3 0.250 3.96 8 8 0 0 0 38.2 32 21 17 5 13 55 4.23
  2007 Boston AL MLB Bos 22 3 1 0.750 1.59 4 3 1 1 0 22.2 14 6 4 0 10 22 2.20
2008 Portland East AA Bos 23 1 0 1.000 1.80 2 2 0 0 0 15.0 7 4 3 0 1 18 18.00
2008 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 23 4 2 0.667 2.47 9 9 0 0 0 43.2 36 13 12 3 17 43 2.53
2008 Boston AL MLB Bos 23 2 9 0.182 6.75 16 15 1 0 0 76.0 93 63 57 11 41 72 1.76
2008 Scottsdale AFL Fall Bos 23 1 2 0.667 3.86 5 5 0 0 0 21.0 18 9 9 1 9 17 1.89
2009 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 24 7 2 0.778 2.36 17 16 1 1 0 99.0 67 30 26 7 30 89 2.97
2009 Boston AL MLB Bos 24 7 4 0.636 4.21 16 16 0 0 0 92.0 91 44 43 13 36 68 1.89
2010 Pawtucket AL AAA Bos 25 0 0 --- 4.91 1 1 0 0 0 3.2 4 2 2 1 1 2 2.00
2010 Boston AL MLB Bos 25 17 7 0.708 2.33 28 28 1 1 0 173.0 142 55 45 9 67 120 1.79
2011 Boston AL MLB Bos 26 6 3 0.667 3.48 14 14 0 0 0 82.2 76 34 32 10 31 60 1.94
  2012 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 27 0 0 --- 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 2 3 1.50
  2012 Boston AL MLB Bos 27 11 8 0.579 4.56 29 29 2 1 0 189.1 187 104 96 25 64 129 2.02
  2013 Lowell NYPL A- Bos 28 0 0 --- 13.50 1 1 0 0 0 0.2 1 3 1 0 3 1 0.33
  2013 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 28 0 0 --- 2.70 1 1 0 0 0 3.1 7 1 1 0 0 2 ---
  2013 Boston AL MLB Bos 28 12 1 0.923 1.74 16 16 1 1 0 108.1 75 23 21 4 36 96 2.67
  2014 Pawtucket IL AAA Bos 29 0 1 0.000 2.53 2 2 0 0 0 10.2 6 3 3 2 2 10 5.00
  2014 Boston AL MLB Bos 29 8 11 0.421 5.34 28 28 2 2 0 170.1 182 108 101 17 54 132 2.44
  2015 Boston AL MLB Bos 30 7 7 0.500 3.26 18 18 1 0 0 113.1 114 48 41 6 23 107 4.65
  2016 Boston AL MLB Bos 31 8 10 0.444 4.78 37 21 0 0 0 139.1 130 80 74 21 55 93 1.69
  2017 Philadelphia NL MLB Phi 32 0 1 0.000  12.27 2 2 0 0 0 7.1 16 10 10 1 3 5 1.67
  2018 NW Arkansas Tex AA KCR 33 0 0 --- 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 4.2 1 0 0 0 2 5 0.64
  2018 Omaha PCL AAA KCR 33 1 0 1.000 1.59 2 2 0 0 0 11.1 9 2 2 2 5 4 1.24
  2018 Visalia Cal A+ Ari 33 1 0 1.000 3.00 1 1 0 0 0 6.0 4 2 2 1 1 6 0.83
  2018 Reno PCL AAA Ari 33 0 1 0.000 5.40 2 2 0 0 0 11.2 12 7 7 0 5 10 1.46
  2018 Arizona NL MLB Ari 33 7 2 0.778 2.01 16 16 1 0 0 98.1 80 25 22 9 22 81 1.04
  2019 GCL Blue Jays GCL Rk Tor 34 0 0 --- 3.60 2 2 0 0 0 5.0 5 2 2 1 0 4 ---
  2019 Dunedin FSL A+ Tor 34 0 0 --- 2.25 1 1 0 0 0 4.0 4 1 1 0 0 7 ---
  2019 Buffalo IL AAA Tor 34 0 1 0.000 5.40 1 1 0 0 0 5.0 4 5 3 4 0 5 ---
  2019 Toronto AL MLB Tor 34 2 5 0.286 6.56 12 12 0 0 0 59.0 72 44 43 13 16 39 2.44
   
  Additional Player Info  
  Pronunciation: BUCK-holtz
First Pro Contract:
June 23, 2005 by Jim Robinson
Signing Bonus: $800,000
MiLB Debut: June 25, 2005 (Lowell)
Added to 40-man: August 17, 2007
MLB Debut:
August 17, 2007 (Boston)
     
  Awards
2005 East Conference (JuCo) Player of the Year
Carolina League Pitcher of the Week (Aug. 21 - 27, 2006)
Red Sox ML Pitcher of the Month (August 2006)
2006 Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month (May 2007)
2007 Futures Game All-Star
2007 Eastern League All-Star
Eastern League Pitcher of the Week (June 25 - July 1, 2007)
2007 Sea Dogs Pitcher of the Year
American League Player of the Week (Sep. 26 - Aug. 2, 2007)
2007 Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year
International League Pitcher of the Week (April 27 - May 3, 2009)
International League Pitcher of the Week (
May 25-31, 2009)
Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month (May 2009)
2009 International League All-Star
American League All-Star (2010)
American League Pitcher of the Month (August 2010)
2013 American League All-Star

SoxProspects.com Awards
2006 SoxProspects.com All-Star - RHSP
2006 SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year
2007 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star - RHSP
SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (April 29 - May 5, 2007)
SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (May 20-26, 2007)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month (May 2007)
SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (May 27 - June 2, 2007)
SoxProspects Pitcher of the Week (June 24-30, 2007)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (August 5-11, 2007)
2007 SoxProspects.com All-Star - RHSP
2007 SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (August 25-31, 2008)
2009 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star - SP
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (April 27 - May 3, 2009)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (
May 4-10, 2009)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (May 11-17, 2009)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week (May 25-31, 2009)
SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month (May 2009)
2009 SoxProspects.com All-Star - SP
2009 MLB.com Red Sox Organization Pitcher of the Year

 
 

 
     
 
 
 
     
 
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