For those of you who remember the Astros combo of Bagwell, Biggio and Bell, we’ve got a trio of young arms coming up through the system you should know about: Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden and Daniel Bard. So fear not when you remember that both Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield are past 40 candles on the cake, because we have reloaded for the future already.

Clay Buchholz is a 22-year old RHP drafted out of junior college in 2005 in the first round. He throws a two-seam and four-seam fastball, along with a slider, circle changeup and hard curve. Soxprospects.com reports that he throws mid-90s but that he reached about 96 mph by the end of last year. Buchholz is said to be unflappable on the mound, no matter the situation, and is considered by many to be ace material. He is also said to have run a 4.32 40 yard dash. He spent most of 2006 with the Greenville Drive (A) and got a taste of the Wilmington Blue Rocks (High-A), compiling an impressive record along the way and winning Red Sox minor league pitcher of the year honors. He was a combined 11-4 last year, boasting an ERA of just 2.42 and striking out 140 victims in just 119.0 IP. He has yet to struggle in professional baseball, and is expected to start 2007 at Double-A Portland. This is a guy who could be ready soon, but the Sox won’t have any openings until 2008, at least.

Michael Bowden was also drafted in the first round of 2005 out of high school, so is only 20. Do you want to know why a high school pitcher is worth drafting? He pitched 80.0 innings for his school in 2005 and struck out a ridiculous 172 batters (that means he got 72% of his outs by strikeout, for those who are keeping track). His ERA was a miniscule 0.45! This righty features a low-90s fastball, hard curve, slider and excellent circle change. He’s a good athlete who’s committed to pitching, and there’s no telling how high he can go at this point. At Greenville he was 9-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 24 starts, striking out 118 older players in 107.2 IP. Some scouts think he could be a David Cone-type pitcher, though others say his delivery needs work.

Daniel Bard was drafted out of North Carolina in 2006, the first round. The 20-year old routinely throws 97-98 mph, but that pitch is just a straight fastball, which may work in college, but it will get thumped in the pros. He has a two-seamer with a little more movement, and he’s working on a cut fastball, a curveball and a circle change. Bard has had some control issues, but at 6-4 and 200 lbs is still filling out. Makes pitching look effortless with a smooth throwing motion. Gave up just 4 HR in 101.1 IP at UNC last season. At this point probably projects as a mid-rotation guy or possibly a #2.

These guys will be hitting the big time when Papelbon, Beckett and Lester are about 28-29 years old, so our pitching looks pretty healthy for the foreseeable future. Enjoy, Sox fans!