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Buchholz still gaining attention

Clay Buchholz has understandably received a ton of attention since the rookie tossed a no-hitter for the Red Sox last Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

It was only a couple of weeks ago when Buchholz, with the PawSox at the time, met tennis legend Jim Courier who was at McCoy Stadium to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Buchholz caught the former No. 1 ranked star’s pitch and Courier joked afterwards that he turned pro before Buchholz was born.

Courier has been working as a broadcaster for the U.S. Open in New York and when he was informed of the no-hitter he was quite happy.

“Since I found out about Clay’s no-hitter, following my appearance in Pawtucket, I’ve been expecting a message at my office from (Yankees general manager) Brian Cashman,” said Courier, “asking if I could drop by their Triple-A team to throw out a first pitch or two.”

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 7:19 PM | Permalink

On Pedroia and Matsuzaka

Terry Francona is firm on the way he handles his team. With offensive players, that means everyone gets time off. With pitchers, it means they stay where they are whenever possible.

Francona was asked why he is giving Pedroia the night off tonight when the rookie second baseman has had at least two hits in each of the last five games.

``We try to space it out. Lugo gets one, Pedroia gets one,’’ he responded. ``We can’t lose sight of the fact that. . . this is his first full year in the majors. We’re playing into September and hopefully beyond that.’’ He noted Pedroia has been hot since May and said, ``maybe the rest has helped him.’’

Francona could not resist pointing out how he stuck with Pedroia when he was struggling early in the season.

``Part of the job is trying to keep your entire team playing well,’’ he said. ``You’ve got to remember, I think, sitting right here a lot of you guys couldn’t understand why Pedroia was even playing. You’ve got to look at the whole thing and keep it in perspective.’’

Just as he expressed confidence in Pedroia when he was struggling, Francona did the same for Matsuzaka today. He was asked if he thought about going to a six-man rotation similar to what is done in Japan. The inference, obviously, was that maybe Matsuzaka needed some rest.

``No,’’ he shot back. ``We have three days off coming up, two kind of together. That would have somebody throwing on nine days rest.’’

Those who are worried about Matsaka need to take a closer look, the manager said.

``I think Dice-K’s start needs to be looked at a little closer. All of a sudden he gave up runs in the sixth inning and guys want to take him out of the rotation,’’ Francona said. ``Of the first 12 hitters he faced, he threw 12 first-pitch strikes. In the fourth inning he had thrown like 85 percent strikes. He was in a dominating performance. We’ve gone over the sixth inning and what happened. Some of it got away.’’

While Matsuzaka’s problem go beyond one game, Francona was firm.

``He doesn’t look to me like a pitcher who is tired,’’ he said.

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 5:14 PM | Permalink

Manny will stay home

When the Red Sox head to Baltimore tonight, Manny Ramirez will not be with them.

Terry Francona reported this afternoon that Ramirez still is not able to play because of the strained left oblique that has kept him out of the last seven days.

``The medical people will give us clearance,’’ Frnacona said. ``He’ll stay back from Baltimore with Scott Waugh (the team’s rehabilitation coordinator) because he’s just not ready to do the baseball stuff.’’

Francona said the decision on when Ramirez returns will be totally a medical one.

``I have to get a clearance. It’s not like I can go in there and beat on somebody and say we need him,’’ the manager said. ``We obviously want him, but they will clear him when he’s available to start baseball activities. How fast that comes, we’ll try to use common sense.

``It’s a tough injury. You push, push, push and you push too far, you hurt it and you're in trouble,’’ he went on. ``They (the medical people) never tell me when to hit and run and I don’t tell them (where to make guys return). . .That’s what their education is in. We listen to them. These guys have input in what we’re doing.’’

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 4:58 PM | Permalink

Clement takes the mound

We're back from the daily meeting with Terry Francona and we’re going to have to act like a real reporter today.

The news value coming out of the daily meetings with the manager can vary widely. Today was one day when the plate was full. There are lots of subjects to touch on, ranging from Matt Clement and Manny Ramirez, to Dustin Pedroia and Daisuke Matsuzaka. We will take them in the order in which the manager discussed them, which means we begin with Clement.

The big righty has been the forgotten man, having missed the entire season because of surgery to his right shoulder. This afternoon, just before Francona headed to his press conference, Clement took the mound to face hitters for the first time.

``It was 20 pitches,’’ Francona related. ``I think you could tell by the look on his face he was excited, probably somewhat excited and somewhat nervous.’’ Clement faced Brandon Moss and Kevin Cash. He had a few pitches so wild the hitter did not swing, but he looked fine.

``It may look like small steps to us, but to him I’m sure it was a huge step facing hitters,’’ Francona said. Clement had thrown off a mound for the first time two weeks ago. He will throw to hitters again Tuesday before the team decides where to proceed from there.

Beyond watching Clement pitch, what was special for Francona was that a number of Sox players, especially pitchers, came out for the 3:45 session to watch. When Clement finished, a large group, led by Mike Timlin, went to congratulate him.

``That was pretty neat,’’ Francona said. ``We’ve played what, 140 games and guys are out there. That’s what is not surprising about our team. Sometimes you don’t see it out on the field, but that’s pretty much how they feel.’’

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 4:42 PM | Permalink

Pedroia gets a night off

Welcome to another beautiful afternoon at Fenway.

The lineups are up for both teams and the notable change for tonight is that Dustin Pedroia will not start for the Sox.

Here are the lineups:

Boston Toronto
Lugo ss Wells cf
Ellsbury lf Stairs lf
Ortiz dh Rios rf
Lowell 3b Tomas dh
Drew rf Glaus 3b
Youkilis 1b Overbay 1b
Varitek c Hill 2b
Crisp cf Zaun c
Cora 2b McDonald ss

Schilling p Marcum p

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Ellsbury, Papelbon and Buchholz

Sean McAdam rejoins us today for our latest edition of projo SoxTalk. Click here to listen to the full audio file. Today's topics: different ways to beat the Blue Jays; Jonathan Papelbon goes back-to-back-to-back; Jacoby Ellsbury's surprising power surge; how the Red Sox plan to use Clay Buchholz; and the availability of Eric Gagne.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On Papelbon: "I think it's a terrific sign that in the first week of September, he's taken on his biggest workload of the season. That tells me that they've done a pretty good job preserving him, and as they get into the stretch run, they don't have to be as careful."

On Ellsbury: "He's hit as many home runs (2) in 31 major-league at-bats as he hit all season in 436 minor-league at-bats. And he talked about that last night, saying that when he went back down after coming up [in mid-summer], he changed some things in his swing ... started using his legs a little more in terms of his approach at the plate, started generating a little more power, and we've seen that."

On Buchholz: "They're kind of hoping -- and it's really only that; I don't think they have any great expectations here -- but they're kind of hoping that they catch a little lightning in a bottle in the final three weeks. I don't want to say he can duplicate what Francisco Rodriguez did with the Angels in 2002, but maybe he can be Jonathan Papelbon with the Red Sox in 2005."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:35 AM to McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Wednesday, September 5

SWEET SEVENTEEN: It wasn't a playoff preview, not against a team that's just hanging on the fringes of the wild-card race, but it had a definite postseason tinge: Ace against ace, with the Red Sox' suspect offense needing to generate runs against a quality starter while their own pitcher had to shut down a potent opposition attack. In that light, the Sox had to be pleased with their 4-3 win over the Blue Jays last night, as Josh Beckett (above, Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach) outdueled Roy Halladay for his major-league-leading 17th win. (projo.com) Sean McAdam reports Beckett's only mistake was a hanging changeup that the white-hot Matt Stairs deposited into the bullpen for a three-run homer in the fifth; otherwise, he stifled Toronto on four hits over eight innings. One of the later items in McAdam's notebook details the third straight appearance of Jonathan Papelbon -- the first time all season he's worked three straight games -- as the Sox, after months of carefully monitoring his workload to protect his shoulder, begin preparing him for the intense demands of the playoffs. He certainly seemed none the worse for wear last night, retiring the Jays in order and striking out the final batter.

NEW KID IN TOWN: Jacoby Ellsbury is fast becoming a Boston folk hero, and Joe McDonald reports on his 3-for-4 performance last night, in which he was just a double shy of the cycle. It's worth a click on this link to Projo Stats to see Ellsbury's numbers after 31 major-league at-bats.

A GOOD SCOUT: The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes talks to Jim Robinson, the scout who discovered Clay Buchholz.

PROTECTING THE FUTURE: SI.com's Tom Verducci tells why the Red Sox -- and other teams with bright pitching prospects -- are so cautious with Buchholz. McAdam's notebook outlines the Sox' plans for Buchholz in the remaining weeks.

STILL THE ONE: The Sox remain No. 1 in SI.com's Power Rankings.

TIME FOR A CHANGE: McDonald reports that the Red Sox have fired PawSox hitting coach Mark Budaska and are reassigning Pawtucket's pitching coach, Mike Griffin. Jon Lester and Brandon Moss, who played for Pawtucket this year, comment on the changes.

RUBBER NECKERS: The Red Sox will be spending the weekend in Baltimore, and the Baltimore Sun's Rick Masse says the reeling Orioles have turned ''the September schedule into a massive freeway accident, each night's game serving as another crunched car added to the pileup.'' They did win last night, though . . . even if it only was against Tampa Bay. (Baltimore Sun)

YANKS ARE WILD: A 12-3 romp over the Mariners last night increased the Yankees' lead in the wild-card race (New York Daily News), and, even better, they say injuries to Chien-Ming Wang (lower back stiffness) and Alex Rodriguez (ankle) are nothing to worry about. The Daily News has more on A-Rod.

ROGER TALK: Some people speak English, some speak French, some speak . . . well, you get the idea. But there's a veteran right-hander -- you all know him; used to pitch here -- who speaks Clemens, which can be hard for the rest of us to decipher at times. That was the case yesterday, as reporters tried to pick through whatever it was Roger said about his elbow injury. One thing's for certain: He and the Yankees think he'll only miss one start. The New York Post's Joel Sherman says Clemens ''attempted to make the injury sound worse and himself sound bigger for it. He was setting up yet another -- everyone yawn now -- John Wayne moment when he comes strolling back into Dodge to save a pinstripe town. '' But teammate Andy Pettitte spoke in a more discouraging tone: ''There is going to be an end [to Clemens' career] sometime. And this could be it.'' (New York Post)

JOIN THE CHORUS: Peter Abraham thinks most of the criticism of Joe Torre is unfounded. But when it comes to how Torre uses his bullpen . . . well, here's Abraham on his game blog last night: ''[Why] he would use Luis Vizcaino in an 11-1 game is beyond me. It’s like he picks one guy every year and decides to use him as often as possible. With the rosters expanded, they could use most anybody in an 11-1 game. It makes no sense.'' (LoHud Yankees Blog)

PLAYING THE CARDS: FoxSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby says people may not like the wild card but it ''is serving its purpose. It's keeping interest in September.''

IN THE A.L. . . . That's not quite as true; in fact, Baseball Musing's David Pinto says the division races are settled, barring historic collapses by the Red Sox, Angels or Indians. In the wild-card hunt, only the Mariners and the Tigers have a chance to catch the Yankees. And the Tigers lost to the White Sox and continue to slide in both the A.L. Central and wild-card races. (Detroit News)

BUT IN THE N.L. . . . Virtually everybody's alive. The Dodgers beat the Cubs and are now three games back in both the N.L. West and wild-card races (Los Angeles Daily News) . . . The Phillies beat the Braves and are three out in the wild card and five back in the N.L. East (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Brewers beat the Astros and pulled to a half-game back of the Cubs in the N.L. Central (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Cardinals are right with them, one game behind Chicago, after beating the Astros (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Mets remained five up in the N.L. East by beating the Reds (New York Daily News) . . . The Diamondbacks routed the Padres and the teams are now virtually tied for the N.L. West lead. (Arizona Republic)

AGE WILL BE SERVED: ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says the Diamondbacks will go as far as their veterans take them.

HEAR MY PLEA: It may be the frustration of the Braves' season swirling down the drain, but Chipper Jones blasted major-league umpires after Atlanta's 5-2 loss to the Phillies last night and all but begged MLB to install QuesTec, the automatic system for determining balls and strikes, at Turner Field. For those -- like me -- who think the quality of umpiring, after taking an uptick with the disappearance of Richie Phillips, has declined dramatically in recent years, it's an interesting read.

As for Chipper, however, you have to think MLB will lower the boom on him for this.

STILL WAITING: Speaking of having problems with umpires, the Devil Rays' Carl Crawford hasn't yet heard if he'll be disciplined after his Monday night ouburst. (AP via ESPN.com)

I'M SORRY: As we all suspected he would, Carlos Zambrano apologized to Cubs fans for his Tuesday outburst. (Chicago Sun-Times)

A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA: That's what the St. Petersburg Times' John Romano thinks of Rhode Island's Rocco Baldelli, who has missed 348 of Tampa Bay's last 486 games because of injury and whose uncertain status for the future casts a shadow over many of the Devil Rays' personnel decisions.

BIGGEST APPLE: SI.com's Jon Heyman thinks the two MVPs could come from New York this year. Click the link to see who.

QUICKLY: The Brewers have added reliever Ray King and catcher Mike Rivera for help down the stretch (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury reports Cole Hamels thinks the Phillies need a full-time chiropractor; Hamels believes he'd be healthy if they did (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The White Sox may give Ozzie Guillen a contract extension (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Cardinals may take Kip Wells out of their rotation (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Padres have picked up ex-Padre Brett Tomko. (foxsports.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Pedro Martinez felt ''perfect'' a day after his return to the Mets. (New York Post)

AND FINALLY . . . Dirk Hayhurst, a pitcher in the Padres' minor-league system, is writing a ''Non-Prospect Diary'' for Baseball America. His August 16 entry is a must read, on many levels, for people who want real insight into what baseball is truly like.

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:20 AM | Permalink