Drinking the Koolaid: Buchholz With Three Appearances and Three Wins

Clay Buchholz, in his third official appearance in a Red Sox uni, picked up his third win last night. Momentarily, he showed that he is, indeed, human when he gave up two walks and a hit to load the bases with no outs against the Baltimore We-Wish-We-Were-As-Good-As-the-Black-Sox Orioles. But Buchholz found another notch. He got Miguel Tejada to bounce into a 5-2-3 double play and struck out Kevin Millar to end the inning.

What is particularly notable is that Buchholz has limited experience in relief. Unlike Jonathan Papelbon who closed in college, Buchholz has been a starter throughout his amateur and professional career. Yet, Buchholz seems to have the mental make-up (no questions on the physical) to handle a stint in the pen. The real question is how good will Buchholz be down the stretch? Will the Sox get a lift similar to the one they received from Papelbon in 2005 or similar to the one the Cardinals received from Adam Wainwright last year? Fortunately for the Sox, their bullpen is already the best in baseball so they may not need Buchholz all that much down the stretch or in the playoffs. But, what was already a stocked pen just got better and that could be trouble for opposing teams in October.

Oh, and if you think I'm the only one drinking the Koolaid, The Yawkey Way store already is selling Buchholz jersey shirts despite knowing that Buchholz will likely change his number next spring when he enters the Red Sox rotation. (Maybe he won't since #61 must bring some good luck but picking a lower number is a long tradition in professional baseball.) Buchholz is clearly in demand. The question for me is how long I'll hold out before buying one to go with my Ortiz and Papelbon jerseys. And should I really buy a Buchholz jersey before a Pedroia? Tough call.