Come to Think of It...The Buchholz Stops Here

It really is so damn unfair, isn't it? To put so much pressure on a 22-year-old starting pitcher, I mean. Yet that's what they're doing in Boston to young hurler Clay Buchholz.

According to the Boston Herald, Buchholz is kept on a short leash. He either has to produce or be farmed out and replaced by fat boy Bartolo Colon. But it goes even deeper than that.

Because the Boston press and front office consider Clay the piece that the Sox were unwilling to give up in order to get Johan Santana this past offseason, he is unfairly expected to pitch like Santana. Well, maybe someday. But now? C'mon, that's unrealistic.

That he is the player the Sox would not give to the Twins is not Clay's fault, of course. But pitching a no-hitter in just his second career start last year also helped to create unrealistic hopes for the kid.

The Sox are also coming off a World Series title, so there's that pressure too.

While it doesn't seem to shake Buchholz, an overreaction to a poor start could cost Clay his major league job (at least for now). 

But the kid needs major league competition to learn from, and needs to be allowed to take his lumps like many good young pitchers. Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA his first full year with the Cubs.  Tom Glavine was 7-17.

Heck, Johan Santana didn't even become a regular starter until his fifth season in the bigs.

Ah, but time is of the essence for the young hotshot from Nederland, Texas. It's pitch well, or be sent down.  It's that simple.

Buchholz has had a rough spring. But so what? He might have a rough first year, too.

Again, so what? Well, when you're in Boston coming off of a title and you're being hyped as the next best thing to sliced bread and Palermo's pizza...well, you get the idea.

Come to think of it, Boston should spend time molding Clay.