Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Buchholz Down
A good season took a potentially bad turn for Clay Buchholz on Friday.
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Buchholz, in the midst of a bounceback year for the Red Sox, left Friday’s start against the Yankees due to right elbow tightness. Buchholz allowed three runs — one earned — on six hits in 3 1/3 innings before exiting.
The alarm is obvious in an age where major elbow injuries — and major elbow surgery — are as common as they’ve ever been. Buchholz saw a drop in velocity in the fourth inning before exiting, losing a few ticks off all his pitches. He had been hitting 93 mph with his fastball early in the contest.
“The first three innings he was throwing the ball really well,” Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon said. “The last one was really up. The last pitch was a cutter. It’s normally 88-89 when it’s a cutter. It was like 85. He called me and he said he’s feeling something in his elbow. That’s all I know. I just told him, ‘You’ve got to be smart. We’ve got three months to go. We’ve got to be safe. I’ll call (Red Sox manager) John (Farrell).'”
It’s a disappointing turn after Buchholz had pitched so well through his first 17 starts. The righ-hander was 7-6 with a 3.27 ERA and 104/23 K/BB ratio over 110 innings prior to Friday’s start, and he’d turned in four straight starts of at least seven innings allowing one earned run or fewer leading up to the game against the Yanks.
His first half was a far cry from a forgettable 2014 season in which Buchholz went 8-11 with a 5.34 ERA. Ineffectiveness and injury — Buchholz missed time with a hyperextended knee — contributed to the disastrous year. Buchholz has never missed time due to an elbow injury in his career.
Buchholz underwent an MRI after Friday’s game, but no results were immediately available. More will be known Saturday, but there’s certainly cause for concern for now.
Pitch Perfect
Pitching continues to dominate the game in 2015, and Friday’s slate was no exception.
Perhaps the most dominant start of the evening came from an unexpected source, as Mike Leake completely shut down the Marlins in a 1-0 victory. The right-hander, who came in with a 4.39 ERA, scattered three hits and a walk over eight innings while striking out 10. He enters the break with a 4.08 ERA and a winning record at 6-5.
A more expected, and arguably more dominant, performance came from Noah Syndergaard. The 22-year-old struck out 13 Diamondbacks over eight innings, allowing a single run. Syndergaard improved to 4-4 with a 3.11 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 72/14 K/BB ratio over 66 2/3 innings thus far this season.
Danny Salazar came within an out of a complete-game victory, allowing only an unearned run over 8 2/3 innings in a win over the A’s. The start was a nice rebound after a tough outing against the Pirates last Sunday. Salazar has been mostly good in a bounceback campaign, going 8-4 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 116/26 K/BB ratio through 98 2/3 innings of work.
In the tough luck department, Justin Verlander came back strong but was left with little to show for it after an epic meltdown from the Tigers bullpen denied him the win. Verlander tossed 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, but the Twins scored seven runs in the ninth inning — while making just one out — to spoil his strong effort. Even so, the start was easily the best for Verlander to this point.
A number of other starters, including Carlos Rodon, Danny Duffy and Erasmo Ramirez, were rewarded for their efforts with wins. Teams entered Friday’s games averaging 4.10 runs per game, the second-lowest mark since 1981. Only last year’s 4.07 runs per game total was lower.
Hands Off Hahn
Another starter will be shut down with another injury that strikes fear in the hearts of pitchers everywhere.
Athletics starter Jesse Hahn won’t pitch for at least two weeks after he was diagnosed with a forearm strain. Hahn will be placed on the disabled list on Saturday.
“He’s been feeling it a little bit,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “At this time in the season, starters that have logged their innings have their aches and pains, and that’s what this is right now. But it wasn’t getting better to the fashion where we were comfortable with him making another start, so we’ll try to be proactive here and give him some time off.”
The good news, if there is any, is that an MRI taken Thursday showed no structural damage to the arm. And while a previous Tommy John surgery doesn’t preclude a player from having it again — current pitchers Daniel Hudson and Brandon Beachy are among the players who have had the surgery twice — Hahn had the surgery in 2010 and hasn’t had any issues since.
The A’s hope it’s nothing more and that Hahn will return shortly after the All-Star break, and Chris Bassitt will start Saturday in Hahn’s stead. Hahn, 25, has gone 6-6 with a 3.35 ERA through 16 starts this year.
National League Quick Hits: Matt Duffy, Joe Panik and Justin Maxwell each — each! — had four hits Friday as the Giants stomped the Phillies 15-2. Brandon Crawford was the only Giants starter without a hit, and five Giants had multiple RBI in the game. Maxwell, Angel Pagan and Brandon Belt scored three runs apiece in the blowout … Gerrit Cole earned his MLB-best 13th win Friday, limiting the Cardinals to two runs over seven innings. While probably not the choice, Cole has a legitimate claim to be in the discussion for National League starting pitcher in Tuesday’s All-Star Game … the MRI on Jason Hammel‘s left hamstring showed no structural damage, clearing him from a serious injury. Hammel left Wednesday’s start after one inning with hamstring tightness … an exam on his injured back revealed no structural damage, but the Nationals will still be without Denard Span for a time. The club placed the outfielder on the disabled list Friday … Mat Latos will have his scheduled Saturday start skipped due to a foot injury. Latos is considered day-to-day, so it doesn’t appear to be terribly serious at this point … Brandon Beachy, making his way back from that second Tommy John surgery, will start for the Dodgers on Saturday. The start will be his first since August 20, 2013, but he was reportedly hitting mid-90s during rehab starts last month. He’s a worthwhile flyer in deeper mixed leagues … in what is becoming a weekly segment here in the Dose, the Mets have talked to the Brewers about Aramis Ramirez. The club also inquired on Jean Segura, per Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Talks didn’t gain much traction the first time around, so it’s unclear what, if anything, has changed.
American League Quick Hits: Brian Dozier capped off the aforementioned furious comeback for the Twins, swatting a three-run walk-off homer against Joakim Soria. Dozier wasn’t able to sneak into the All-Star Game via the Final Vote, but he’s still been plenty worthy, hitting .259/.331/.521 with 19 homers and 49 RBI this year … Michael Pineda was among those pitchers who threw well Friday, holding the Red Sox to one run over 6 2/3 innings in a win. Pineda is 9-5 with a 3.64 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 111/13 K/BB ratio through 17 starts … like Dozier, Jonathan Schoop also hit a walk-off homer Friday. Schoop’s solo shot in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Orioles the win over the Nationals … Rob Refsnyder will be recalled Saturday with the hope that he grabs ahold of the second base job. The 24-year-old is hitting .290/.387/.413 at Triple-A … despite being optioned out on Tuesday, Kevin Gausman will remain in the Orioles’ rotation after the All-Star break … Mike Trout did Mike Trout things Friday, homering twice in a win over the Mariners. C.J. Cron also did a Mike Trout thing, also homering twice in the contest.
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