Not Even Christian Vazquez Can Save Clay Buchholz From Himself
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Clay Buchholz has been the wrong kind of stopper for the Boston Red Sox so far in 2016. He's stopped winning streaks every time he's taken the ball - literally. Buchholz is 0-3 and the Red Sox are winless in his five starts.
The most frustrating part: Buchholz has no idea what he has to do to get better results.
"I wouldn't ever go on a bad streak if I knew what I had to do to not go on them," Buchholz told reporters after the game (via ESPN). "I think it just happens sometimes. Team is going good and everybody is throwing the ball well, and it's falling on me right now. I haven't been throwing the ball as well as the other guys."
Those "other guys" refer to pretty much everyone else who has started games for the Red Sox this season. Rick Porcello has seen a striking turnaround since pitching to Vazquez instead of Blake Swihart, while Steven Wright continues to have a surprisingly dominant April and David Price delivered a season-high 14 strikeouts on Tuesday night in Atlanta.
The advanced numbers would suggest that Buchholz actually has pitched better since Vazquez took over catching duties from Swihart. He has cut down significantly on walks, home runs, and fly balls, while inducing more grounders and leaving more baserunners stranded. He has thrown more first-pitch strikes and a higher overall rate of strikes than usual, with velocity up across the board and contact rates slightly down. He has also mixed up his pitches better, cutting down on fastballs with a more even distribution of cutters, curveballs and change-ups, while even mixing in a few split-finger fastballs.
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Buchholz looks better on paper, but why haven't the results changed? More importantly, how can Buchholz adjust to make more valuable improvements?
"Not give up five runs? I don't know," he said after giving up five to the Atlanta Braves, one of baseball's worst-hitting lineups. "I felt good with most of my pitches for the most part. Like I said, fastball command wasn't there.
"You can't just walk guys, because that usually ends up hurting you, and they hit some good off-speed pitches. They hit some good fastballs that I felt like weren't that bad of pitches and they weren't [hit] at anybody."
Buchholz walked Braves No. 7 hitter Jace Peterson, who is batting .200 in 19 games this season.
The main problem with Buchholz, of course, has never been his stuff. It's always been about whatever is going on upstairs. It's fair to describe him as mentally fragile. With the improvement in so many metrics - and, a quality start against the Blue Jays that resulted in a tough-luck loss - it's nearly impossible to explain why Buchholz has unraveled so quickly and easily in most of his starts, or why the slightest unexpected development can throw him off completely. Against the Houston Astros last Saturday, he cruised through four innings before allowing a grand slam to Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus in the fifth.
Based on the numbers, Vazquez's mere presence has resulted in a marked improvement in many aspects of Buchholz's pitching - but, ultimately, he still ends up allowing five runs (he has allowed exactly 5 in four of his five starts) and he's left shrugging. Despite taking some responsibility Thursday night, Buchholz still hasn't measured up in the accountability department, either, which could be contributing to his persistent struggles. Why do anything differently or work any harder if you don't think your struggles are your own fault?
The Vazquez effect is real, and you can even see it in Buchholz's numbers. But the Red Sox still can't win with Buchholz on the mound and No. 11 still can't figure out what's wrong with him. Until he does - and until he holds himself more accountable than he has - Vazquez won't be enough help. Buchholz needs to figure this out himself, and there's no reason to be confident that he will.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
