The Boston Red Sox have seen enough of Clay Buchholz so they sent him to AA today and they likely won’t even bring him up when rosters expand in September. Buchholz has pitched in 16 games (15 starts) for the Red Sox this season and he was 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He allowed 93 hits and walked 41 batters in only 76 innings for the Red Sox this season and that’s just not good enough to get the job done. The Red Sox are hoping that Tim Wakefield will be ready to return sometime next week and that’s a good thing for them. Wakefield has started 23 games for the Red Sox this season and he is 7-8 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima are still pretty much lights out in the 8th and 9th innings but the Red Sox need help in front of them to bridge the gap from the starter to Okajima. Lefty Javier Lopez has done a solid job as he is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP so far this season. But, David Aardsma, Mike Timlin, Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen have all underachieved so far this season for the Red Sox. Aardsma is effective when throwing strikes and Delcarmen pitched pretty well last season for the Red Sox so at least there is hope with those two guys. Hansen often looks like a deer in headlights on the pitching mound as he is 1-3 with 1 save, a 5.47 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP this season. The Red Sox might be looking to move Hansen at the trade deadline if some other team wants him. Mike Timlin is starting to look his age this season but that was bound to happen at some point. He is 3-3 with 1 save, a 6.31 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP this season. Still, the Red Sox are in first place this season despite the bullpen woes which is pretty impressive.

The Red Sox have placed starting shortstop Julio Lugo on the 15-day disabled list with a left quad strain. Lugo has played in 82 games this season for the Red Sox and he is 70 for 261 (.268 avg, .685 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 1 homer, 22 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Lugo’s hitting hasn’t made up for his poor defense as he has already made 16 errors this season. The Red Sox have recalled 24-year old switch hitting rookie Jed Lowrie to take over as the starting shortstop while Lugo is out. It’s quite possible that if Lowrie plays well that he could steal Lugo’s starting job away from him as the Red Sox’ front office is not happy with him. Lowrie was the #5 prospect in the Red Sox organization coming into this season according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook. Lowrie has played in 17 games for the Red Sox this season and he is 13 for 42 (.310 avg, .816 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. Lowrie has also played in 53 games this season in AAA ball and he is 53 for 198 (.268 avg, .793 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 5 homers and 32 RBIs. It will be interesting to see if Lowrie runs with his latest opportunity at the bigs.

UPDATE: Julio Lugo will miss the next 4-6 weeks as it has been revealed that he has a torn left quadriceps muscle. The Red Sox will go with Jed Lowrie and Alex Cora for the time being. If they aren’t satisfied with the production of Cora/Lowrie while Lugo is out the Red Sox might need to make a trade.

It appears that Mike Timlin could be nearing an end to his time with the Red Sox as age appears to be catching up to him. Timlin has pitched in 10 games this season for the Red Sox and he is 2-2 with a 12.79 ERA and a 2.68 WHIP. Timlin has allowed 14 hits (2 of them homers) in only 6.1 innings this season. The Red Sox will likely use Timlin early in games until he can be trusted again.

The Red Sox didn’t trade for Johan Santana because they didn’t want to part with either Buchholz or Lester so these guys need to step up. Buchholz raised expectations last season when he threw a no-hitter in his 2nd major league start last season. But, he’s off to a rough start this season. Buchholz has started 3 games this year and he is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP and they just won’t get it done. John Lester has started 5 games this season and he is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. If Lester could tighten up his control he would probably be fine. He has walked 17 batters already in 26.2 innings. The Red Sox don’t have a lot of depth in the organization starting pitcher wise so the Red Sox need Buchholz & Lester to step up.