For Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox, this was not the plan going into the 2008 season. Forced to shelve Curt Schilling until at least the All-Star break and start the season with Josh Beckett on the disabled list, Boston had no choice but to thrust rising talent Clay Buchholz back into the limelight as the club’s fifth starter. The hope was that he could fill that role on the roster while the Sox waited for free agent Bartolo Colon, acquired late in spring training, to make two or three extra starts with Pawtucket before joining Boston’s rotation. Unfortunately, after starting the opener for the PawSox, Colon strained his oblique muscle, hindering his immediate path to the big league club and further entrenching Buchholz on the 25-man roster indefinitely.

To this point, Buchholz has had mixed success. At home, he has been exceptional; in three starts, he has allowed just two runs and averaged nearly six innings per start while posting a 1.04 ERA. On the road, he has been shelled in nearly every start except for a tough-luck 2-1 loss in Tampa on 26 April; take that game out of the equation, and the average is just over four innings and nearly six runs allowed with an ERA of 11.65. In total, he is 2-3 with a 5.53 ERA while the Sox have lost six of his eight starts.

Regardless, the Red Sox are looking long-term with Buchholz, who was signed in 2005 and just last season pitched at Double-A Portland before jumping to Triple-A Pawtucket at mid-season and then getting called up twice late in the season. As with other young pitchers in the system, Boston wants to keep pitch counts and innings pitched totals reasonable so as not to burn out those valuable arms while giving them at least a few years to develop in the minors. Ideally, Buchholz would have started the season with the PawSox and continued his development there; to the team’s credit, the Sox have continued to follow this convention, even at the likely cost of a few wins this season for the club.

The good news is that Colon looked strong in his recent start Saturday against Indianapolis, his first for Pawtucket since the opener; limited to just 55 pitches going into the game, the former Cy Young winner threw 49 over three innings of work, giving up one run on four hits while striking out two. The radar guns even recorded his fastball at 94 MPH and his pitches showed excellent movement, according to Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson.

His next start is scheduled for Thursday in Buffalo and he will likely make at least one more start before a move is made to bring him to Boston. At present, the club has a deadline of 01 June to place him on the club roster at a bargain cost of $1.25 million this season. If and when this happens, Buchholz will likely return to Pawtucket to resume his efforts to eventually become a permanent fixture in Boston.

Tags: Bartolo Colon, Boston Red Sox, Clay Buchholz, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Pawtucket Red Sox, Theo Epstein