BOSTON — Clay Buchholz is still feeling soreness in his lower back after throwing, but says there has been improvement.
Buchholz was originally scheduled to throw off a mound Friday for the first time since going on the disabled list. Instead, after consulting with the staff, he elected to go with another round of long toss. After the session, the pain that is becoming all too familiar popped up again.
"It's the down time after I throw that the soreness comes," he said. "I still got a little bit of stuff there."
Buchholz said that the slight improvement each day should allow him to try a side session soon. Manager Terry Francona indicated that would come either Sunday or Monday.
Still, the young righty remains frustrated by the holding pattern.
"It's already taken way too long for this in my mind, but I’m already on the DL," he added. "It can't really get any worse than it was at the beginning. It hasn’t got any worse, it's just slowly getting better. Definitely not on my timetable.
"I want to be out there pitching … It’s getting to that point where it’s frustrating."
Buchholz stressed that he feels he could pitch from a mound right now. However, because the soreness arrives after each throwing session, he does not want to push the issue, have a start and then be back to square one.
"I don't want to go out there, pitch one outing, and have to be put back on the DL if it flares up again," he said.
The fact that the Red Sox are playing so well has made the wait a bit better.
"The run we’re going on, everybody's pitching well, everybody’s hitting well," he said. "That's the best thing about it is, with Andrew [Miller] and Wake [Tim Wakefield] filling in, we haven't missed a beat. That's why I'm trying not to rush it back and injure something else. That’s what I'm looking at right now."
