Remember When Buchholz Was on the Bubble?

Red Sox ace Clay Buchholz

Remember back in April, when Clay Buchholz was one of the guys at the back end of this amazing rotation and was going to have to fight for every pitch he earned at Fenway this year?

Funny how much things can change in just a few months. Buchholz went from being a potential triple-A pitcher once again to hurling a Cy Young-caliber season for the Boston Red Sox. He has been far and away their best starter all season, and with his most recent win (which extended his scoreless innings streak to over 23) he's a legitimate Cy Young contender.  Buchholz is 15-5 with a gaudy 2.26 earned run average, both tops among Red Sox starters. Despite throwing more than 20 less innings than both Jon Lester and John Lackey, it's pretty undeniable that Buchholz has been far more efficient in his starts. Additionally, he missed some time around the All-Star break to set him back in that statistical category.

The point, though, is that this young, promising kid who fired a no-hitter in just his second major league start -- he's finally here. Clay Buchholz has developed. Sure, he'll continue to develop. But he's no longer the young, timid rookie who just fights to earn himself a roster spot. He's the bona fide ace of this staff, and denying it is downright silly. Only five pitchers in the American League have 15+ wins (four of them have 15, C.C. Sabathia has 17). Out of those five pitchers, Buchholz's 2.26 ERA is the best by quite a large margin. The second-best ERA in the group is David Price at 2.97. He's the only pitcher in the AL to have given up single-digit homers (7) while having 13+ wins. His strikeout numbers may be a bit lower than he used to be, but I think that's one of the main points. He's becoming a pitcher and not just a flashy young kid. His strikeouts are down because he's learning how to be efficient and pitch solid games. And with this latest scoreless innings streak, I think we're getting a glimpse of what Clay Buchholz can become in his Boston Red Sox career. At the ripe age of 26, there is still plenty of work ahead of him as the ace at Fenway Park.

Whether or not he wins the Cy Young, one thing is for certain. If Boston is going to make a push to catch either the Rays or the Yankees in this playoff hunt, Buchholz will need to continue putting up those Cy Young-caliber numbers. The way things have gone, I see no reason why he won't do just that.