Clay Buchholz thought he had been traded after getting pulled early

The MLB trade deadline is still over two-and-a-half months away. But a lot of guys are already on edge, namely, Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz.

Buchholz was pulled by manager John Farrell after just 87 pitches in the fifth inning of Monday’s 14-7 victory over Oakland. The two-time All-Star, who actually wound up earning the win, immediately assumed the worst.

“I didn’t really know what was going on,” said Buchholz per Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. “I thought I got traded or something. I’d have liked to have gone back out for the sixth, but I’m not the manager.”

Farrell, for his part, would go on to cite circumstantial reasons for his quick hook on Buchholz.

“Likely could have gone deeper but felt like with the number of pitches thrown, where we were in the lineup, coming to the fourth time through the order, wanted to make a move,” said Farrell. “We were well rested with the bullpen to set up for these next two days. Felt like we had some guys who could use some work.”

For the 31-year-old Buchholz, who has pitched for the Red Sox for his entire 10-year career thus far and racked up two World Series rings over that span, he may still be a trade candidate. He’s in the last official year of his contract (Boston holds a team option for 2017) and has battled declining velocity and injuries as he has aged. Buchholz might also be considered expendable on a rotation now featuring newcomer ace David Price, an emergent Steven Wright, and a resurgent Rick Porcello.

But hopefully his tenure with the team alone will afford him a little bit of breathing room. At least for now.

H/T theScore