Clay Buchholz intends to pitch in 2020 — and possibly beyond — but he won’t accept just any job.
The Toronto Blue Jays starter, who made a name for himself with the Boston Red Sox from 2007 to 2016, wants a major league contract or at least a legitimate opportunity to make a team out of spring training, according to The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham. Buchholz, who turned 35 last month, has no interest in pitching at the minor league level.
“I told my agent that,” Buchholz said, per Abraham. “I feel like I’m capable of pitching as well as I did five or six years ago. It’s not about money. It’s about considering myself a major league pitcher.”
Buchholz entered Thursday with a 1-4 record and a 5.31 ERA in eight starts with the Blue Jays this season, which has been a grind thanks to a shoulder injury that cost him more than three months. He was effective with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018, though, posting a 7-2 record and a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts. Perhaps the right-hander has something left in the tank despite the overall up-and-down nature of his career since being traded from the Red Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2017 campaign.
“I definitely wanted to get back before the season ended to pitch a few games and see if I could open a gate to next season,” Buchholz told Abraham. “It’s no secret the game is trending toward younger players but I feel good physically and can help a team.”
Buchholz earned two All-Star nods and won a World Series title with the Red Sox. He finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting in 2010, when he went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts, and flashed an elite arsenal again in 2013, going 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 16 outings.
