This weekend at Fenway Park served as a peephole into the future of this franchise. I will assume that I'm in the majority of people who think that future should very well be now, whether we're the best team in the sport or not.
Injuries have allowed us fans to get a solid look at some of the young talent on this squad; some of it fairly old news at this point. Old news, new news, has been or might be, I see some really bright skies ahead for the Sox. It's not so much the Buchholz no hitter, either. While that's all well and good and historic, you just can't rely on that type of young success to be a lasting thing. What impresses me more about the young Buchholz is his humbleness and maturity as a pitcher and player, because that's what will make him successful. All the talent in the world may not make a lick of difference (http://www.boston.com/news/specials/jeff_allison/) if you don't have the head on your shoulders to support that talent. More and more coaching, experience and studying the game will hopefully continue to mold Buchholz into the pitcher he so apparently can be. And he's not the only one with that much potential.
You've read prior praises of Jacoby Ellsbury. With Manny Ramirez out of the lineup for who-knows-how-long, Ellsbury should see a good amount of playing time split between left and center. I think it's harder to get excited about a position player than a phenom pitcher like Buchholz, but I have been excited about this kid since he was drafted out of Oregon State. You can see potential brilliance in all facets of his game and that is truly exciting. Outside of learning how to play the wall in left, I struggle to find true inconsistencies in his game. He's a contact hitter with tremendous speed, he knows how to run the bases, he can work a count, he covers a ton of ground in the outfield, he'll dive for balls if need be and he's coachable. Saying he's Johnny Damon with a better arm is pretty high praise for such a young guy but that's the word out there.
Finally, there's the Sox Rookie of the Year frontrunner, Dustin Pedroia. I don't know what more to say than: 7th in the AL in hitting and logical choice for a gold glove it weren't for the existence of Placido Polanco who refuses to make an error. Plays like the one he made to save the Buchholz no hitter this weekend are merely a small sampling of how valuable he has been this season. He hits to all fields, throws his body around in the field (my father calls him Pigpen because his uniform is ALWAYS dirty) and he plays as hard as anyone in the game. Our scouts have done worse than guys like Pedroia.
I guess that's who we should be thanking for this kind of feeder system: the scouts and the front office. With guys like Theo, Ben Cherington, Jed Hoyer and the rest of our scouting ensemble, it's hard not to trust the decisions that are made with young players. It's also hard to justify sitting a guy like Ellsbury when he has given so much to this team in limited time on the field and at the plate, but I'll never complain about seeing his name or any of the other young players on the scorecard.
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Not sure how true this story is, but I heard that Francona was asked about Buchholz before the game and he said something like 'It doesn't matter if the kid pitches a no hitter, he's going back down (meaning back to Pawtucket) after his start.'
You hear that? If so, is he really being demoted? That would be crazy! Especially with the roster expansions.
This post makes me feel warm inside.
And the story is true, except it was before Clay's first start that he said that, not the second. But the other version makes for a much better story.
Yeah, it was said before his first start, supposedly...and if you recall, Buchholz went like 5.1 before he gave up a hit in that one.
He's now a perm fixture in the bullpen for the remainder of the season.
Anyone see the game last night? I'm not sure if Ellsbury had a good game...
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