With lingering soreness in his right shoulder, Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz will be shut down for two to three days, manager John Farrell said.
An MRI taken Wednesday showed inflammation in the bursa sac area, according to Farrell, but no structural issues.
“I think that's the most encouraging thing at this point,” Farrell said.
Farrell hopes to have Buchholz start a throwing program this weekend. The shoulder pain caused Buchholz to cut short a bullpen session Wednesday after about 18 pitches.
“He had two good work days with more intense throwing,” Farrell said. “So there's small amounts of improvement, but yet we've got to take a little bit of a step back here before we pick it back up again.”
Buchholz, who is 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA, has said he doesn’t want to pitch until he feels completely comfortable.
“He's a fierce competitor and wants to be on the mound, and as well as he's been pitching this year, I think everybody in our organization wants him on the mound,” Farrell said.
“The start-and-stop and the hanging on to the incremental improvements that were taking place, then he was feeling like he was getting closer and then a step back -- there's some frustration there.
"But I think coming out of yesterday, there's a lot more peace of mind knowing there's nothing structurally going on here and it looks to be something that will be dealt with in a very near term.”
The last time Buchholz took the mound was June 8 against the Angels, when he injured the shoulder fielding a comebacker.
With the All-Star Game 15 days away, Farrell hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Buchholz returning to the mound before the break.
“I don't know that we're ready to say that yet,” Farrell said. “But when he puts the ball back in his hands, and how he feels and how we move through that first phase or two of the throwing program, then we'll have to backtrack how many days it's been since the last outing.
"We have a template that we will use with number of days down and the prescribed number of days going forward to get back into the game. Whether that means one rehab start, whether that means two, that's to be determined.”
