Q&A with Clay Buchholz

Clay Buchholz

Born:	August 14, 1984
Birthplace:	Lumberton, Texas
Height:	6' 3"
Weight:	190 lbs
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Right
Drafted:	1st Round, 2005
College:	Angelina JC
High School:	Lumberton HS (TX)
ETA:	2009

The 22-year-old smoke-throwing phenom will be making his Triple A Pawtucket debut Monday night at home against the Ottawa Lynx after tearing his way through the Eastern League with the Portland Sea Dogs, and he was kind enough to sit down with me and answer some questions while still dominating from the pitching rubber in Portland.

His change up and curveball are already certified weapons for the young righty and while he doesn’t have the same fastball of a Jonathan Papelbon, he already has much better secondary pitches than the Sox closer and has dominated to a greater degree at the Double A level than Pap ever did.

Boston’s front office was wise to keep him out of any trade deadline deals over the last two years, and I would be shocked if he’s not up and pitching for the Sox in either a starting or relieving role by the time roster’s expand in September.

Buchholz likely has 10-12 more starts before he hits the 140-165 innings pitched mark when the Sox development staff will back him off a little bit, and the bullpen may actually be a logical place for him to get his feet wet at the big league level without putting too much strain on his golden arm. Until then, we'll have to track his progess with the PawSox.

How is the season going for you right now?
CB: Just trying to stay on target right now and go pitch by pitch rather than game-by-game, you know?”

What was it like pitching against Roger Clemens in that Double A start earlier in the year while you were with the Sea Dogs?
CB: It was unbelievable not only because he’s a Hall of Famer but also because he’s a guy I’ve looked up to as a person and a baseball player for my entire career, and to get the chance to pitch against him was a great time for me and a great experience.”

Did you learn anything by watching him, or was it just a matter of sharing the same pitching mound with a guy like Clemens?
CB: I think it was more sharing the mound. I’ve pitched off the same mounds as guys like Nolan Ryan and Roger pitched off of before, but I’d never actually got to share the mound with one of them in a game. Being a part of a game with and pitching with Roger was a good experience.

Do you model your game after any pitchers that you watched while growing up?
CB: Growing up watching Nolan Ryan and Clemens and growing up I always wanted to be a power pitcher with a good fastball and that’s the way things have panned out for me. It’s going good for me right now and I just want to keep it up.

Is there a certain Texas way of pitching or a mentality that goes along with being a pitcher from there?
CB: I don’t know…that’s a good question. I think the Texas guys that you see in the big leagues are guys that have good fastballs and at least one good secondary pitch, and I just want to keep that going.

Did you have a lot of interaction with [fellow Texas native] Josh Beckett in spring training?
CB: I got to talk to him a couple of times…not really about personal life and back home at all but a little about the game. He came to me and introduced himself and I got to talk to him and Schilling a little bit about the game, and that was another good experience for me. Getting to pitch against an actual big league roster and being around the big league roster and the guys…that was a great learning experience for me.”

What did you take from the veteran pitchers when you talked with them?
CB: You see them on TV but you don’t get to see them work and go about their business. The one thing I think I realized [from talking with them] is that it’s still a game but it’s also a job and a business, and if you don’t go about your work in the right way then you’ll get fired, demoted or whatever. Their work ethics were awesome and I look at them and see that’s the place where I want to be in the future. I try to look at them and take bit-by-bit what they do.”

What’s your mindset on the mound?
CB: Strike one and then I’ll think about the rest after that. I found out it’s a lot easier to pitch ahead in the count than it is 2-0 or 2-1 and having to throw off-speed pitches for strikes rather than being up 0-2 and getting away with throwing breaking balls in the dirt or fastballs up in the strike zone.

The hitters’ zone expands whenever a pitcher is ahead and vice versa when a pitcher is behind in the count. There’s no swings when they’re just looking for a certain pitch and then sometimes you can throw a good pitch and they’ll still hit it sometimes…it’s all about going out and throwing strike one.

How much of a stress is there within the organization about throwing strike one?
CB: Sometimes you get tired of hearing it because you hear it so much, but rightfully so because it’s something that a pitcher has to do to be consistent in throwing strikes and getting ahead with your fastball and then being able to throw your other pitches for strikes too.

Have you allowed yourself to think about the big leagues much?
CB: I’m a minor leaguer right now, and I still have a little bit of development before I get up there and that’s what the organization feels as well. I’ve got to get better at a couple of things and when I do that then I’ll be ready and if the time is right then I’ll make that jump.”

What are the things you have to work on?
CB: The fastball command and being consistent with it. Sometimes I’ll go out and my change up is my best pitch and I can go wherever I want with it, but I’d rather have [command of] my fastball and be able to pick apart the zone by going inside and outside with it. If you think about it it’s really two different pitches that you can throw to each of the [inside and outside] corners.

I’ve been consistent with it a little bit, but I struggle with it a little in the early innings and it always comes later in the games and by that time my pitch count is up and I’m out the game. So definitely fastball consistency in the zone and throwing strike one and getting ahead [are the two things I’m working on].

A couple of years ago Jonathan Papelbon made the jump from the minor leagues to the Red Sox and became a factor out of the bullpen down the stretch in 2005. Could you potentially see yourself going through that same path if and when you break into the Majors?
CB: I came out of the bullpen in college so I’ve done it before. You’ve got to go out with a different demeanor about it and you’ve got to go out and if they call an off-speed pitch first pitch…then you’ve got to throw it for a strike. It’s just a whole different concept in the bullpen rather than starting a game. You go after ‘em and try to get ‘em out and try to get put them in a hole on that very first pitch. But I feel like I could do it. It’s still just pitching and you need to go and do what you’ve got to do.
 
What do you have with you on the mound right now for pitches?
CB: Two-seam fastball, four-seam fastball, circle change, curveball and slider. Right now my curveball is my favorite pitch to go to. It’s had good spin and good depth and if it’s going well and I’m using it early in games then I can go with my fastball late in the game in off-speed counts and tie guys up when they’re not sitting on the fastball. It’s a flip a coin situation every day and you just go with something different.”

Do you have any nicknames for any of your pitches?
CB: No I don’t (laughing)…that’s for someone else to decide. I’m not going to pull a Ricky Vaughn and start coming up with names for my pitches.”

People have said that your body type is a little reminiscent of Roy Oswalt…do you think there are any big league comparisons out there to you that are valid?
CB: I don’t know…One of my main goals is to put a little bit of weight on and build my frame a little bit. I don’t know who I would put myself as…I don’t know if I would say Oswalt because I’m a little taller than him, but we do have a similar body type at this point.”

Did the bad weather in Maine take a little time to get used to at the beginning of the season?
CB: The first couple of weeks were pretty bad, and worse than I’d ever seen or felt before. It was a lot colder than I expected and the cold and the snow delays were a little different, but after the first couple of innings it didn’t have much of a factor in the game and you’re able to get used to it a little bit.”

A quick mention of a wonderful event being put on by friend, colleague, boss and Boston Metro sports editor extraordinaire Chris Price as he along with his family will be holding the Ride for Randy on the Cape in Brewster on July 21 at 2 p.m. on Sheep Pond. The web site for the fundraising bike ride, walk and run is at www.rpmfund.org and is in honor of Price’s younger Randy, who succumbed to thyroid cancer four years ago at 32 years-old after an inspiring seven year-long battle with the disease.

Price was an accomplished artist and “maker” as well as a competitive skeleton racer, and the fund bestows athletic RPM awards toward Olympic hopefuls in the skeleton race that best exemplify Randy’s “sportsmanship, commitment to excellence regardless of circumstance, persistence and improvement.

Good luck to Chris and his family in organizing the excellent event and very worthy cause that does a magnificent job of honoring his late brother’s memory.

Click Here to Donate to the RPM fund, and all are encouraged to participate in the active portion of the day -- just call 631-329-8937 or e-mail info@rpmfund.org for more details.

To contact the Price Family for more information, please email us or write to:
PO Box 4068, East Hampton, NY 11937

And finally, Friend of Hacks and Fox 25 sports anchor Butch Stearns has an entertaining new segment about the Olde Town Team on the Fox 25 web site called "Off the Cuff" and he was kind enough to have yours truly sit in with him to wax poetic about all things Red Sox just prior to the All-Star Game this week. The Fox 25 site is also the place to go if you want to watch all kinds of Cape Cod League baseball action.

And finally in honor of Rickey Henderson being named first base coach by the New York Mets, here is the Lefty's homage to "Rickey Being Rickey" and your Daily Dose of Red Sox Nation in this first person account of a trek through the bleachers at Yankee Stadium...Wow. Warning: Adult language and some adult situations may not make this video suitable for the entire family.