The Boston Red Sox have spent most of the season in first place in the American League East, but with the Tampa Bay Rays winning 17 of 19, the team is holding onto a small lead and with a number of pitching issues coming up with injuries, the team may be looking to deal for names like Matt Garza, Jake Peavy, Josh Johnson and closer Francisco Rodriguez.
The Red Sox are dealing with pitching depth issues after an injury to Clay Buchholz as well as mediocre performance from Ryan Dempster, putting Boston at the top of the list of teams that may deal at the deadline. The Red Sox have been in the market for a closer all year and one option that has come up is Francisco Rodriguez from the Brewers. The team already traded for Matt Thornton from the White Sox and they could try and go after other Chicago pitchers, including Jesse Crain and Jake Peavy, as the team is in last place and struggling this season.
Buchholz has been trying to get back on the mound for the Red Sox and after dealing with a few issues with his shoulder injury, the pitcher and the team decided to get a second opinion from renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Buchholz has not pitched since June 8 and has barely been on the mound since late May and he is hoping that a visit to the doctor will get him back to pitching sooner rather than later. Buchholz was set to return to the rotation before the All-Star break, but after feeling some discomfort in his shoulder while throwing in the bullpen, he was shut down again.
Buchholz has been going back and forth with his throwing routine and he has been frustrated with the progress so far and is hoping that a visit to Andrews can pinpoint what is keeping the discomfort in his arm. The Red Sox still aren't sure whether Andrews can give any actual help to Buchholz, but the staff is hoping that is can put the pitcher at ease as he comes back from the shoulder problems. Buchholz had some excellent stats with a sub-2.00 ERA over his first 80 innings, but since then it has been a struggle to stay on the mound.
The Red Sox lost to the Yankees and Hiroki Kuroda on Saturday and were 59-40 coming into the game on Sunday night. The team has been one of the best offensive teams in the league this season, ranking first in runs and on base percentage and ranking second in the league in batting average and slugging percentage. John Lackey is leading the team in ERA with a 2.95 number, while Buchholtz is still tops in wins with nine while Dempster is first in strikeouts with over 100.