Don’t start on Buchholz Ross in fast lane
No given to reclaim rotation spot
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
BALTIMORE — Could Clay Buchholz have his eyes on the open spot in the Red Sox starting rotation?
Joe Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket last night after allowing seven runs while recording only seven outs in the Red Sox’ 13-9 loss to the Orioles.
Buchholz wasn’t much better in relief, absorbing the loss after allowing four runs in 31⁄ innings, though 3 he was asked if he was hoping to earn back his spot in the rotation.
“You all will probably know before I do,” he said. “I’ll go to work either way.”
So far out of relief, Buchholz has been good, solid, and disappointing, all within in his first two appearances.
He earned the win with a scoreless inning against the Blue Jays on Sunday, then looked solid for two scoreless innings last night. He shut down the Orioles in the fourth and fifth as the Red Sox tied the game at 8 in the sixth.
With a chance to keep the score tight, Buchholz couldn’t do it. He walked two batters, Matt Wieters reached on a routine grounder that could’ve been a double play if not for an error by Dustin Pedroia and soon enough the Orioles had a 10-8 lead.
“I felt pretty good,” Buchholz said. “I pitched around the guys I needed to pitch around or didn’t necessarily want to mess on the plate with. Things happen.”
Sox manager John Farrell offered faint praise for Buchholz.
“He kind of stabilized the game for a couple innings,” Farrell said. “We tie it back up, then the first two leadoff walks give them a little momentum. Unfortunately you see a rare misplay by Pedey that was a potential double play. There they are again with a crooked number on the board. At some point, we’ve got to take more control from the mound.”
Farrell also said the Red Sox might not fill Kelly’s spot right away.
“We’ve got off days in the schedule coming up,” Farrell said. “We can do some things. We have some flexibility in the rotation. You exit early, it taxes a bullpen deep, and we’ve got to get another arm here.”
Righty Noe Ramirez was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Kelly’s spot.
Holt still struggling
A second concussion in less than two years has left the Red Sox’ endearing utility man frustrated and confused.
One day Brock Holt’s head might start to feel a little better. And then he does some exercise — maybe running, more recently hitting — and the dizziness returns.
Sitting at his locker at Camden Yards yesterday, Holt pointed to his neck and said, “From here down feels great. From here up, still not there.”
Holt, 27, is not ready to panic after he suffered his most recent concussion when he landed after diving for a line drive on May 9. But he is listening carefully to the instructions from renowned concussion specialist Mickey Collins.
“I have to be honest with the training staff and honest with myself about how I’m feeling,” Holt said. “That’s something that’s hard for me because I’ve always been the kind of guy that if I feel like I can go, I’ll play. I’ll play through stuff. And all of us do that.”
Almost a month since making contact with the Fenway Park infield, Holt’s head is far from feeling normal.
“Little headaches, but it’s not even that,” he said. “It’s just — it’s so hard to explain. I tried to explain it to the coaches and training staff. It’s like, when I’m doing something, I’m hitting, moving my head around, I get done and I still feel like I’m moving. My eyes aren’t 100 percent focused. Taking a fly ball I feel fine. I’ll catch every ball. But it’s just a little off. After I’m done tracking balls, moving around, moving my head, it still feels like I’m moving.”
Holt took batting practice for the first time yesterday and has been taking fly balls in the outfield for two days.
“It clearly affects me on the field,” he said. “It affects my play on the field. And I don’t want to go out there if I can’t be my best. Trying to progress a little every day. Still not there yet.”
Swihart not left out
While Holt is out, the Red Sox are keeping Blake Swihart entrenched in left field.
Swihart has been occasionally sitting in on pitchers’ meetings and catching some bullpen sessions, but those appear to have to been scaled back of late.
“He’s caught bullpens on the last homestand, but he hasn’t on this road trip,” Farrell said. “We try to keep him involved as much as possible.”
The Red Sox have discovered another flamethrowing reliever in lefthander Robbie Ross Jr.
Ross has amped up his average fastball velocity from 93 mph last season to 95 mph this year. He’s even touched 97 and 98 mph on the radar gun occasionally. He’s struck out 24 batters in 191⁄ innings 3 with a 2.33 ERA. He had a 3.86 ERA last season.
“I think it took a half a year to (reacclimate) back to the bullpen after he had been starting for a year and a half or so,” Farrell said. “Keep in mind when he first came to the big leagues he was a very effective left-handed reliever with Texas before moving into the rotation.”