Clay Buchholz Was Matched Up Against John Danks And His 7.25 ERA On Wednesday, White Sox DFA John Danks
That was it. That was our chance to see the Red Sox win a game that was started by Clay Buchholz this year.
The White Sox have the most wins in the American League, and they were slated to throw three lefties against the Red Sox in this series that begins tonight in Chicago. Wednesday night’s matchup was scheduled to be John Danks versus Buchholz, but the White Sox just announced that they’ve designated Danks and his 7.25 ERA for assignment, and have yet to announce a replacement for the middle game.
Boston is the second worst hitting team in the majors against left-handed pitching this year, off to a .204/.278/.327 start, and instead of sticking with Danks to see if he can get it going against a team that struggles against lefties, they snipped his ass. Sure, Danks could clear waivers and be sent down to Triple-A, or a team could assume his contract in full, or the White Sox could trade or release him. But the fact of the matter is that the White Sox recognized that they have a good team here, and they’re not married to an underperforming starter who will be a free agent at the end of the year, so they removed him from the equation. Hm, what a great philosophy to have.
Also, here’s something worth noting — Danks is collecting $14.25 million from the White Sox this year, which is the final year of his contract. Buchholz is only owed $13 million for the 2016 season, which is the final year of his contract. There are only three starting pitchers in the American League who have thrown at least 20 innings and have an ERA higher than Buchholz this season, and Danks was one of them. If the White Sox are willing to cut ties with Danks — once Eduardo Rodriguez comes back, and the Red Sox send Henry Owens back down to Pawtucket, then Joe Kelly is ready to return from the disabled list, and if Buchholz is still pitching the way that he’s been pitching to this point, the Red Sox better have the balls to either move Buchholz to the bullpen or designate him for assignment. No more waiting it out. The fans have been waiting it out for ten years with this guy. No more waiting.
The Red Sox are 15-5 in games not started by Buchholz this year. They’re 0-5 in games that he gets the ball. Too small of a sample size for you? Over his last 51 starts, the Red Sox are 19-32 in games started by Buchholz — that’s a .373 winning percentage — and he has a 4.68 ERA over that span, which covers the last three seasons.
Who knows? Maybe Buchholz turns a corner here in May. I doubt it, but it’s possible. All I know is that I’m a big believer in trends, and the trends when it comes to Buchholz suggest that when he starts off this bad, he stays this bad.