Red Sox phenom Clay Buchholz is one of the most-watched pitchers this year as Boston fans hope to see more of the outstanding stuff that he showcased in 2007, throwing a no-hitter in just his second major league start. Everyone knows that Buchholz has a devastating soft 12-6 curveball that's a throwback to the old days; I love the loopy curveball and prefer it to the hard breaking ball that pitchers like Josh Beckett use. Not only do I think it's safer on the arm, but I love the knee-buckling action that you can only get with such a massive change of speed and that big signature breaking path.

Here's what I mean:

Nasty. But how are his mechanics? Read on...

Arm Action / Tempo

Clay is 21-22 frames from maximal leg lift into footplant, which is pretty slow for a guy who we could accurately classify as a "power pitcher." However, his body posture is great as he launches into footplant - look how he "sits" down and rides the back leg. He doesn't do a great job of drifting through the balance point, but he makes up a ton of ground when he has that aggressive lower body action. It reminds me a lot of Roy Oswalt, actually:

Source: pitchingclips.com

Though Oswalt has lightning-fast tempo, you can see the similarities in the lower body between Oswalt and Buchholz.

Like Carlos Gomez, I like when pitchers have a late aggressive "stepover" into footplant. That's like the trigger for hitters in their stride - it helps them clear their hips fast and ahead of the shoulders to generate maximum power. Clay has this in his motion:

So, while I would normally dislike a slow tempo, he really makes up for it in other areas. I rate his tempo as Very Good.

Like his tempo, he does a few things I don't typically like, but don't count against him:

• He breaks his hands with his elbows, and he starts to "hang" his arms where he might get into the L-arm position. However, shortly after handbreak, he sweeps his arm down, back, and up and on time at footstrike.


• He starts to pick the ball up with the elbow, which is a sign of possible shoulder impingement in the W-arm position. However, Clay keeps the PAS elbow below his shoulder, avoiding hyperabduction, and he naturally loads his shoulders, rather than forcing the issue (see Aaron Crow for a counter-example).

Check out this great power position he gets himself into at footstrike:

He throws from a high arm slot and gets good shoulder tilt to get his arm up. I prefer the high 3/4 slot (or higher) for various reasons, and I think pitchers can gain more leverage by tilting the acromial line, thusly gaining higher velocity and better releases on all of their pitches.

When I put everything together, I rate his arm action as Very Good.

Ball Release / Followthrough

Pretty damn good, if you ask me. He does a great job of pointing the PAS shoulder at the target and doesn't cut his followthrough short. The commonly heard phrase "don't fall off the mound" is really a bunch of crap, as pitchers who throw from this arm slot often do this because of the insane leverage they create towards the ground. There's nothing wrong with it.

Clay keeps his glove out in front and almost finishes with the glove at the shoulder, but drags the elbow back a bit. However, he does do a good job of firming up the front side enough and gives his arm a good path to decelerate past his body. I rate his ball release/followthrough phase as Very Good, bordering on Excellent.

Conclusion

Boston fans, I think you'll be watching Clay Buchholz pitch for a long time coming. Boston limits his pitches and doesn't abuse him, he has clean mechanics, and his stuff is great. Nothing suggests a short or long-term injury to me, and if he runs into the occasional tweak or soreness, I'm betting the Boston medical staff will take good care of him while the depth of the farm system can provide plenty of starts in his absence.