A small change in the fates could have had Clay Buchholz on the mound on Sunday night pitching for the Dodgers instead of the Red Sox.
In 2005, the Sox believed that their primary competition for the right-hander at Angelina Junior College was Los Angeles. That notion became apparent at a start by the young right-hander late in the season, an outing to which the Sox deployed cross-checker Mark Wasinger.
“Mark Wasinger called me from the game and said, 'He pitched great, and the Dodgers had the only other cross-checker there,'” former Sox amateur scouting director Jason McLeod (now the Padres Assistant GM) once recalled. “I said, 'Well, that's our competition for him.' Logan White was there. That just told me everything. It helped us to prioritize where we felt we had to take him.”
White, now an Assistant GM with the Dodgers, was the director of amateur scouting for Los Angeles. The fact that he was in attendance at a Buchholz start in the final days leading up to the draft offered evidence of the sincerity of L.A.’s interest.
Buchholz, however, was largely unaware of the Dodgers’ interest in him. In fact, aside from the Red Sox – for whom he worked out at Fenway Park – he only knew of one other team that was thinking about making him an early pick that summer.
He worked out for the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla. But St. Louis’ interest in Buchholz was different than that of both the Dodgers and Red Sox in one vital way.
“I hit with St. Louis,” recalled Buchholz. “I think they were looking to draft me in the third round as an outfielder.”
Of course, it never came to that. But that doesn’t mean that the Sox thought they were a lock to get the pitcher.
The Sox viewed Buchholz as a high-ceiling pitcher with incredible stuff. But the team instead used its first two picks of the draft on seemingly safer gambles, a pair of players with outstanding college track records in Jacoby Ellsbury (No. 23 overall) and Craig Hansen (No. 26 overall).
Buchholz represented a huge talent but also a risk, given that he’d spent only one year pitching for an obscure junior college and there were questions about his makeup due to an arrest for his involvement in the theft of some laptops. So, the Sox targeted him with their third pick of the draft, and the 42nd overall.
There was just one hang-up. The Dodgers were sitting on the 40th pick of the draft.
And so, the Sox held their collective breath when the Dodgers made their selection. When Los Angeles went with pitcher Luke Hochevar (a right-hander who did not sign with Los Angeles, re-entered the draft and went No. 1 overall in 2006 to the Royals), there was a round of high-fives in the Sox’ draft room.
The Sox would not risk losing the young pitcher again. They took Buchholz with the 42nd selection – one pick in front of the Cardinals, and nine picks before the Dodgers almost certainly would have tried to pop the pitcher at the beginning of the second round.
And so, it was the Red Sox who continued to enjoy Buchholz’ emergence as one of the best young pitchers in the American League, this time against the Dodgers in his club’s 2-0 victory. (Recap.)
It was a night that provided an interesting sort of measuring stick for the young pitcher, in that he struggled early with his mechanics and, consequently, his command. But he received key support from his defense and made pitches at the critical moments early in the game, most notably in the first two innings.
In the first, a pair of walks sandwiched around a Manny Ramirez single loaded the bases. But Buchholz struck out Garret Anderson on a fastball and then retired Casey Blake on a comebacker. Then in the second, with runners on first and second and one out, Matt Kemp scorched a liner up the middle that was caught by Marco Scutaro, who flipped to second with his glove hand for a double play.
After that, Buchholz found his rhythm and overpowered the Dodgers. He did not allow another hit until he gave up a leadoff double in the seventh.
He ended up pitching shutout ball for 6 2/3 innings during which he allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out four. With the performance, Buchholz (10-4, 2.47) is now tied for the American League lead in victories and ranks third in ERA.
His dominance now has him facing unexpected questions. He shakes his head in near-disbelief when asked about the possibility of winning 20 games or being named to the American League All-Star team.
“It’s so hard to win five,” he mused. “I can remember thinking, ‘Wow. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to win 10 games in a season.’
“You play to make an All-Star team and win a World Series. You can’t think about it too much, but if it happens it’ll be great. It would be an honor to participate in something like that,” he continued. “To be named to something like that, as far as playing with the best players in the world, I think a little luck has to go your way for something like that to happen and you’ve got to take the best of those situations when luck is going your way.”
Of course, it is more than luck that is currently working for Buchholz. He is a young pitcher armed with some of the best stuff in the majors.
He is turning into the pitcher that both the Sox and Dodgers anticipated he might become back in the 2005 draft, something of which both teams had a first-hand reminder on Sunday night.