Player Focus: Clay Buchholz

Clay Buchholz became the first Red Sox rookie to to pitch a no-no on 9/1, improving to 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA for the season. As expected, collectors flocked to the auctions, paying top dollar for the 23-year-old's RC's. The first sales that I saw after that game, on 9/2, went for (prices in ( ) are for sales a few days later):

• 05 Bowman Chrome Draft RC - $49.16 ($22-23.50)
  
• 05 BCD Refractor $78.00 ($46.96)
  
• 05 BCD Xfractor - $121.00 ($104.33)
  
• 05 BCD Gold Refractor #'d 50 - $444.00
• 05 Bowman Sterling - $40.25

Like most players who quickly become hot because of a single game, those same cards experienced drastic drops in sales prices just a few days later. I think that Buchholz will have to show that he can pitch well in his next few outings to keep his RC prices up.

He definitely has some skill, and he's playing for the high-profile Red Sox, so hobby stardom could be his for the taking. We'll see what he does in future starts.