Nexus wrote:

---

raftsox wrote:

---

Nexus, I've seen a lot of 2 seam pitches thrown by Clay this year. He generally throws them down and in on right handers at 91-93. It's a great pitch and one of the reasons I think he's become such a groundball machine this year.
I don't remember the batter (Mora maybe) from the last Baltimore game, but there was one strike out on a hard 2 seam fastball where the batter swung over the top by a good margin.

You're probably right. I just always thought his 4-seamer had enough armside movement that it could have been mistaken as a 2-seamer. Take this video for example. His 1st inning K against Jacobs looks almost like a 2-seamer, but that's definitely his 4-seam grip (and great pitch).

Edit: you have to click on "Buchholz hurls 6 2/3 shoutout frames" link

Clay has definitely thrown more two-seamers this year. A quick search found several confirmations of this, including these comments from John Farrell (link):

"The Sox have been particularly impressed by Buchholz' ability to force ground balls with an improved two-seam fastball.... His overall strike-throwing ability and location have been very consistent,'' pitching coach John Farrell said before the game. ``The challenges that he went through a year ago have allowed him and enabled him to make better use of his fastball to both sides of the plate, and to use the two-seamer, which he really showed a lot in spring training. It's a pitch he's used with quite a bit of success to give him ground ball ability, maybe more so this year than last year."

Realize you're not arguing the point, Nexus, but to me this (more use of the two-seamer to get groundball contact) is the key developmental change for Clay this year and does a lot to explain the sharp increase in his success. Last year he would relie on his offspeed stuff when he got in trouble and the hitters sat on it and crushed it. He feared contact and tried to avoid it. His use of the two-seamer has allowed him to pitch to contact and get ground ball outs. He knows he can go to that and often does so (one of the reasons his K rate has been down). The thing is, his success with this strategy then opens up the chance to use both his four-seamer and his filthy off-speed repertoire. Last night he had 8Ks (and no BB) in 6 2/3 on a night he didn't feel that great. Granted this was against KC, but still a promising sign. I see a direct connection between Clay's use of the two-seamer to get groundball outs and the growing confidence and consistency he's showing from start to start.