There will be no ERA crown, no finale at Fenway against the New York Yankees and no chance for Clay Buchholz to doff his cap to the hometown fans. But the fact that Buchholz's last start of the season was scratched due to a sore lower back takes nothing away from perhaps the best development for the Red Sox this season.
Buchholz was scheduled to start Saturday against the Yankees but aggravated a back ailment that had been bothering him for some time while throwing a side session. Although the injury is not considered serious, there was no need to push through it and risk a bitter end to an otherwise sterling campaign.
The 26-year-old broke out to go 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA, second in the American League, and gained entry in Cy Young Award debates coming into the final month of the year. All this after a spring which saw him discussed as a possible member of the bullpen.
"It's pretty unbelievable when you sit back and see guys go through seasons, how they redo it every year," Buchholz said Saturday of reaching another level. "It's really unbelievable to put yourself in that category with those names. I wasn't expecting it to happen. I got some confidence along the way. It was definitely a fun year."
Buchholz said that confidence will help him enter spring training in an even better frame of mind, contrary to this past spring when his performances were uneven and his role still up in the air.
The righty is now a full-fledged star just entering his prime and under team control through 2014. That doesn't mean the hard work comes to an end.
Buchholz said he will take a couple of weeks off and make sure the back recovers. It had been bothering him for about six starts and he does not want to risk doing any more damage.
Once he feels well enough Buchholz said there is plenty of room for improvement. Repeating his delivery and refining his secondary pitches are at the top of the list. Again, that will be that much easier knowing where he stands.
And with the numbers Buchholz takes into the offseason, it'll be hard not to have a boatload of confidence going forward.
"Obviously the numbers, it doesn't always happen like that," he said. "I'm going to take it as it is. It might never be like that again, but I think that I really have the capability to be a good pitcher for this team."
Buchholz admitted that while it would have been nice to win the ERA title, he took more pride in watching the team fight through its trials to remain competitive. And it was the team that helped him pitch with a clear conscience.
"The team that's behind us every day, the defense, not being afraid to pitch to contact," he said when asked what helped him make the leap. "Just about every easy play is made and a lot of great ones…it makes pitching easier."
For a guy that had his ups and downs in parts of three seasons with the big club, Buchholz sure made it look easy in 2010.
