Clay Buchholz Has "Chronic" Blister Problem

Clay Buchholz has been dealing with a blister problem, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI. Supposedly, the blister is not a concern and is even a common problem for pitchers, and Buchholz says he's had it since he first came to the majors. That's all believable enough, but if it's a non-issue, and it's not affecting Buchholz's performance, why bring it up to begin with?

A blister issue would give the Red Sox a reason to put Buchholz on the disabled list and get Aaron Cook in the rotation, for one. Junichi Tazawa, who was just sent down to make room for Jose Iglesias on the 25-man roster, could be recalled before 10 days are up should Buchholz hit the DL, as Tazawa would be replacing an injured pitcher, overriding the usual rules about demotions and promotions.

Buchholz has struggled this season, and if, like Mark Melancon, he just needs some time to step back and work things out both physically and mentally, a trip to the disabled list could help out.

This is all speculative, of course, born entirely from the need to get Aaron Cook on the roster somehow combined with the recent set of roster moves from Tuesday afternoon. We'll see if anything comes of it, but if Buchholz does indeed go on the DL soon, remember these seemingly-innocuous comments about a chronic, but non-concerning blister.