Red Sox' Buchholz Has 'Best Day Yet'
BOSTON (CBS) - It's been a long road to recovery for Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz with numerous bumps and setbacks along the way, but there was some encouraging news following his bullpen session on Wednesday.
"Best day yet,'' Buchholz said -- according to CSNNE's Sean McAdam. "I threw 50 pitches, up and down three times. Like I said, it's probably the best I've felt. As far as intensity and everything, it felt like a pretty standard bullpen for me. The last 30 pitches or so, I didn't feel anything, so that's the best I can probably take out of it. It felt good.''
"This was the most intense I've done anything. I'll have to see if there's any lingering soreness or anything. I don't anticipate that," said Buchholz, who will have another bullpen session at Fenway Park on Saturday. "I'll probably do the same thing I did today -- the up and downs.''
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If all goes well over the weekend, the Red Sox are hoping Buchholz can face live hitters in either a simulated game or with batters in the box in another bullpen session. Given that he hasn't pitched in a game since June 8 with the lingering neck and shoulder injury, he'll need to make a couple rehab starts ahead of returning to the team.
But the problem there is the minor league schedule ends in early September, so there is only three weeks to get those rehab starts in.
When asked if he has a date in mind for a return to the Boston rotation, Buchholz said it will happen when it happens.
"I've already tried [projecting a return date] and it didn't work out too well, so I'm just going to let it happen when it happens,'' he said.
Buchholz is 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 12 starts this season. The Red Sox are 11-1 in games Buchholz has started.
