Clay Buchholz Breaks His Silence About ‘Demotion’ to Red Sox Bullpen

Clay Buchholz has not had a strong year for the Boston Red Sox in 2016 thus far. As a starter, Buchholz has only three wins to six losses, and his earned run average is almost at three and a half. As much as the Red Sox starting rotation has struggled this season, it’s a fight to get a spot in the rotation. That’s a fight that Buchholz has lost for the time being.

The Red Sox have made some significant changes to their starting pitching, and that includes demoting Joe Kelly to Pawtucket and sending Buchholz in the bullpen as young Eduardo Rodriguez steps into his spot in the rotation. It’s a long way to fall for a pitcher who was once the exciting young star of Boston after throwing a no-hitter in only his second major league start.

Obviously, the last thing the pitcher wants to hear is that he’s headed to the bullpen to make room for the hot young kid with an arm, after pitching for the Boston Red Sox for 9 years. Nonetheless, Buchholz’s demotion was a long time coming. His career has always been shy of being something really special due to injuries, head games, or just inconsistency.

It’s understandable that Clay Buchholz wouldn’t want to comment on the move to the bullpen right away. It was revealed shortly after the news broke that he was headed to the bullpen that “he was in no mood” to discuss it with anyone publicly.

Buchholz just needed a few days before he spoke with WEEI‘s Rob Bradford on Tuesday to break his silence and give his thoughts on his transition to the bullpen as well as his future in Boston. After a breather and a relief appearance, he broke his silence.

“I took a couple of days after the move. Obviously, it’s not the type of news you want to hear for yourself. I took it as a demotion, and I needed a couple of days to take a breather from just talking about it, sort of get it out of my head and try to figure out a routine that will work for me. It is what it is. I’m here to pitch. Regardless of if it’s starting or relieving, I still have to do what I can do to help the team out in any way I can.”

During his first relief appearance for the Red Sox, only two days after being sent down to the bullpen, Buchholz pitched an inning, gave up only one hit, and ended up getting the win over the Blue Jays. His next outing two days after that against the Orioles didn’t go as well. Buchholz surrendered three earned runs with four walks over three-and-a-third innings, and ended up taking the loss.

While Clay Buchholz figures out his new role with the Sox, there is a lot of doubt about his future with the team. During his interview with Bradford, he spoke about his future. Buchholz is very understanding and just wants to improve and be effective in his new role.

“This is the only place I’ve ever been. It’s been probably the best that I can imagine playing, to being not so fun at times. That’s part of the game. I definitely understand that. There’s nobody who wants to go out there and pitch well more than myself. It stinks not to do well, and it stinks to have the fans criticize you or say you’re not good enough. So what you want to do is go out there and prove to everybody that you can. That’s sort of where my mind is at now. I already know myself, and I can do whatever I need to do in whatever role I’m put in. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it and preparing for the best, rather than thinking about the worse.”

[Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images]