If you compare Clay Buchholz's numbers from his first start to this second start, almost all of his number improved by 50% or more. After giving up 13 hits and 6 runs in only 4 1/3 innings of work against the Brewers, Buchholz gave up 7 hits and 4 runs (2 earned) against the Yankees. Unfortunately, the improved pitching did not result in a better outcome for Clay. After getting a no decision in his first start he would take the loss when the Boston bats couldn't getting anything going against PINEda.
While baseball statistics at the beginning of the season aren't very useful due to the small sample size, there is an unusual trend developing with Buchholz's numbers. Having faced 26 righties and 23 lefties, the batting averages are .500 and .304 respectfully. Again this is a very small sample size and will likely even out in one or two more starts.
Some other trends I'd like to see start evening out (the sooner the better) would be our offensive struggles. Without even looking at a stat sheet I know our double play and left on base numbers are still out of whack. Since we can't seem to get anything from our flavor of the day leadoff man, we should just punt and put our worst hitter in the one spot and call it a day. Yes, I know that's a bit extreme and I don't fully believe we should do it, but putting guys in that spot seems to cool them off or get them injured.
Speaking of cooled off, tonight the weather in Chicago will be pretty frigid once again. While I can't find any pitching statistics sorted by temperature, Buchholz has stated in the past that he struggles to get going in cold weather games. This definitely was evident in his first start against the Brewers. It will be interesting to see if either pitcher chooses to use a foreign substance to get a better grip on the cold baseball tonight. Since this game doesn't start until 8:10 Eastern Time and the Bruins don't play for another two days, you might watch the beginning of the Yankees game on ESPN to see PINEda vs. Wood.
Lefty John Danks will be pitching for the White Sox tonight. After dislocating his ring finger last night, this might be a good night for Mike Napoli to rest. In 27 at bats against Danks he has 13 strikeouts.
Speaking of cooled off, tonight the weather in Chicago will be pretty frigid once again. While I can't find any pitching statistics sorted by temperature, Buchholz has stated in the past that he struggles to get going in cold weather games. This definitely was evident in his first start against the Brewers. It will be interesting to see if either pitcher chooses to use a foreign substance to get a better grip on the cold baseball tonight. Since this game doesn't start until 8:10 Eastern Time and the Bruins don't play for another two days, you might watch the beginning of the Yankees game on ESPN to see PINEda vs. Wood.
Lefty John Danks will be pitching for the White Sox tonight. After dislocating his ring finger last night, this might be a good night for Mike Napoli to rest. In 27 at bats against Danks he has 13 strikeouts.
If you like what you've read here, share with your friends and follow @BOSsportschick on twitter.
RSS Feed
