Clay Buchholz belongs in the majors right now. He knows it, his manager knows it, and just about everyone who has seen him dominate this year knows it. The only question about the young right-hander is when his chance will come.

Buchholz is 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 62 innings of work in Pawtucket. He is throwing the ball better than he has in his professional career. Yet a promotion to the Red Sox anytime soon seems unlikely. With John Smoltz set to leapfrog him on the Sox’ already-long list of starters, Buchholz is stuck in the proverbial waiting room of Triple-A for the foreseeable future.

“It’s hard to sit here and try to do more than what I’ve been doing,” said Buchholz prior to Friday night’s rainout against Louisville. “I don’t think I need to do any more. It’s just a matter of, when the time comes, for me to be ready whenever they do give me that call.”

The call to which he refers is one that almost certainly will not come in the near future, but Buchholz is trying to let the big picture take priority over his personal achievements.

“It’s not always about the single person,” said Buchholz. “It’s about what the team wants and what they need…Obviously it’s not me right now.”

Buchholz admits that there have been times when it’s been difficult to swallow the fact that even his best pitching has not been enough to earn him the reward of a promotion. Even so, the ’05 sandwich pick understands that it wouldn’t make sense for the Sox to try to force him into the mix at the expense of a current starter.

“I think anybody in the situation [of being stuck in the minors] would have the same types of thoughts,” said Buchholz. “Sometimes it’s hard to go out there knowing that I wasn’t even pitching this well when I got called up last year and the year before. Now, given the circumstances, it’s sort of hard to go by and say, ‘Wow, I’m pitching a lot better than I was a couple years ago and haven’t gotten called up yet.’

“It is what it is,” he added. “They’ve got their guys up there who are winning games. It’s hard to take a guy out of a spot just because you want to go another route with somebody else.”

Meanwhile, with speculation growing regarding a possible trade of Brad Penny, Buchholz admitted that he has paid attention to the rumors. After all, should Penny be removed from the equation, Buchholz would be that much closer to returning to Boston.

If a spot in the rotation isn’t about to materialize, Buchholz said he would be open to being used as a reliever. Yet the Sox – armed with a bullpen that features remarkable depth – do not have a need in that area either, barring either an injury or a trade.

“Anything that would get me in the big leagues [to] stay I wouldn’t mind doing,” said Buchholz.  “I know [the Red Sox] told me they didn’t want me coming out of the pen but if something arose and that’s where they [wanted me], I’d be all for it.”

Perhaps the biggest positive in a seemingly frustrating circumstance has been that Buchholz has been able to forget a dismal 2008 season in which he went 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA. In fact, Buchholz notes that success in Triple-A has proven far more beneficial to his confidence than any of his major-league experience last year.

“It’s not nearly as bad as it was last year [when I was] thinking, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that,’” said Buchholz. “Now I’m thinking, my confidence is up, [I’m] throwing pitches with conviction and throwing the pitches I want to throw regardless of the result.”

Even if he isn’t promoted soon, Buchholz is confident that, stuff-wise, he is ready for the majors right now.

“I feel more ready now than I was at any point last year,” said Buchholz. “If anything, I think given the spring training I had [in ’08 (1-2, 8.2 IP, 11 H, 9 ER)], starting in the minor leagues might have been the right thing for me at that point, but the success from [2007] kind of [prevented] that.”

PawSox manager Ron Johnson has been able to observe Buchholz’ demeanor throughout the season. While saying that he guesses Buchholz is “overdue,” he notes that the situation is just a part of the game.

“This is professional baseball. We do have levels but it’s not like college where it’s, ‘OK I did my four years, now I’m ready to go to the big leagues,’” said Johnson. “Take nothing away from what he’s done. He’s earning every opportunity that will be created for him down the road.

“He wants to go back to the big leagues, sure he does, but he’s still going out and doing exactly what he needs to do on the mound,” Johnson added. “I think that has something to do with maturity.”

Outfielder Chip Ambres, who has been in five organizations throughout his 11-year career, says he has seen plenty of instances in which a player is blocked. To Ambres, concentration is what separates the successful from the derailed.

“I think [for] the ones that are headstrong and focused on what they have to, things will eventually work out whether it be via trade, an injury or just a regular promotion,” said Ambres. “I think for [Buchholz], if he can stay focused and not really worry about what [people] are saying, I think he has a pretty good shot of getting to the big leagues.”

The situation for Buchholz is ironic to say the least. A year after being expected to anchor the rotation with Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Jon Lester, Buchholz faces the possibility of not getting an opportunity to throw a major-league pitch this season.

“It’s gone through my head a couple times, but it’s hard to go out and be good on the mound [while] thinking about stuff that’s off the field that you don’t have any control over,” said Buchholz. “It doesn’t really matter how good or how bad I do right now. There are guys ahead of me and I’ve just got to take it for what it’s worth.”

One of the guys ahead of him is Smoltz, who had an impressive six-inning start Saturday in Pawtucket against the Durham Bulls. Asked how he felt about being passed on the depth chart by the future Hall of Famer, Buchholz didn’t hold back his admiration for the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner.

“That guy’s accomplished more than 99.9 percent of guys do in their whole career, so he’s earned everything he’s got,” said Buchholz. “It would be stupid of me to sit here and fault him for that and fault the Red Sox for getting a guy like that off the market.”

Buchholz knows that his chance will come. Until it does, he will continue to put a priority on executing and staying healthy.

“I think everything will take care of itself,” said Buchholz. “It’s a weird game sometimes. Things happen for a reason and I believe that.”