Clay Buchholz Nearing Return for Red Sox

While so many others are being shut down for good this time of year, Clay Buchholz is actually preparing for his return to the Boston Red Sox.  Buchholz threw a successful side session Saturday afternoon and is holding out hope that he may be able to pitch again before the regular season ends.

Before Boston’s Saturday afternoon contest against the Tampa Bay Rays, Buchholz threw 30 pitches from 60 feet away.  To get a better feel for the strike zone, Buchholz had teammate Connor Jackson stand at the plate while he worked.

After the session, Buchholz reported feeling no discomfort in his back which has kept him out of action for the past three months.

Buchholz’s injury can be traced back to a June start against the Rays.  During that appearance, Buchholz only managed to go 5 innings and 81 pitches before removing himself from the game.  Buchholz made the move to avoid further injuring his back.  At the time he was hoping not to miss an extended stretch of the season.

But It took Buchholz until the end of July to get back on a pitching mound, and after throwing his first side session things still didn’t feel right.  The right-hander received a second opinion and it was discovered that he was dealing with a stress fracture in his lower back.

At that point many believed Buchholz was done for the season.  But Buchholz has battled back to the point where he’s only a few more sessions away from returning for the Red Sox.

Boston hopes to get Buchholz back on a mound Monday.  Both sides think there’s a chance for Buchholz to return before the end of the regular season, but the priority is getting the 27 year old back for the playoffs.

Before his injury, Buchholz maintained a 3.48 ERA over his 14 starts, striking out 60 batters over his 82.2 innings this season.

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