Red Sox exercise 2016 contract option on right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz
The Boston Red Sox today exercised the 2016 contract option on right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz.
President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski made the announcement.
Buchholz, 31, went 7-7 with a 3.26 ERA (41 ER/113.1 IP) and 107 strikeouts while allowing just 23 walks and six home runs in 18 starts for the Red Sox in 2015. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 11 with a right elbow strain and missed the remainder of the season. On July 28, he was transferred to the 60-day DL. In his last 11 outings of the season beginning May 15, the right-hander allowed only 17 earned runs in 75.2 innings for a 2.02 ERA.
An American League All-Star in 2010 and 2013, Buchholz is 73-51 with a 3.85 ERA (440 ER/1,028.1 IP) and 806 strikeouts in 169 career major league games, including 167 starts. His career .589 winning percentage ranks 10th best in the AL since the start of 2007 (min. 100 decisions). Among AL pitchers with at least 800 innings since 2010, he ranks 10th in both ERA (3.61) and opponent batting average (.248), and owns the seventh-best opponent OPS (.684).
Signed by Boston in the supplemental round of the 2005 June Draft (42nd overall), the native of Nederland, TX is the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox pitching staff, having appeared in the major leagues in each of the last nine seasons. He was a member of Boston's World Championship teams in 2007 and 2013.