Buchholz Feeling Good After Second Rehab Start, Eyes September 10 Return
BOSTON (CBS) - After not making it out of the first inning of his first rehab start, Clay Buchholz is feeling great after hurling 3 1/3 innings for the Pawtucket Red Sox on Friday night.
Buchholz will make one more rehab start next week, with the hope the Red Sox ace can return to the Boston rotation in time for a big series with AL East rival Tampa the following week.
Buchholz pitched in his second of three scheduled rehab outings on Friday, throwing 53 pitches against the Syracuse Chiefs in Pawtucket. He threw 34 strikes, allowing just one earned run on seven hits, walking none and striking out two.
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"I felt really good," Buchholz said according to ESPNBoston.com. "Tonight I was much more impressed with the velocity that I was able to sustain over the period I was out there, and getting over that hump of not really worrying about anything when I'm trying to get a fastball down and away to a righty and have something on it."
"I was able to throw all my pitches with the same effort level, same arm angles, and that's basically the final hump I had to get over, as far as not having a second thought in the back of my head," said Buchholz. "Now it's just getting that release point down on each of my pitches, and obviously not having a long first inning."
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Buchholz is scheduled to throw his final rehab start on Wednesday for Pawtucket, though that could change with his wife expecting the couple's second child. He'll throw between 75 and 80 pitches in that start, and BUchholz and the team are hoping he can return to the Red Sox rotation on September 10, when the team begins a three-game series against the Rays in Tampa.
