HOUSTON -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz, on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow, estimated Thursday it will be "five or six weeks" before he's back on a mound pitching.
Given that he'll probably need to go on a rehabilitation assignment, that timetable, if correct, means it will be September at the earliest before the right-hander returns to the Red Sox.
Buchholz returned to the team Wednesday night from Pensacola, Florida, where he went for a second opinion from orthopedist James Andrews, who administered an injection of platelet-rich plasma to assist the healing process after consulting Red Sox orthopedist Peter Asnis. Buchholz had begun to play light catch before seeing Andrews but has been advised to shut down all throwing.
The injury, which occurred July 10 in Fenway Park while Buchholz was pitching against the New York Yankees, came in the midst of a stretch in which Buchholz was pitching as well as he had in 2013 before he hurt his right shoulder. In his previous 11 starts, Buchholz had gone 6-2 with a 2.17 ERA, lowering his overall ERA from 6.03 to 3.27.
"These things happen when I'm on a good run," he said.
Buchholz said that after speaking with Andrews, he was satisfied that there had been no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, and he said Andrews told him there was a good chance the PRP injection would strengthen the flexor muscle, which protects the UCL.
Buchholz's injury, which put him on the disabled list for the fifth consecutive season, means another year in which he will not reach the benchmarks of 30 starts and 200 innings, the avowed goals of starters taking a regular turn in the rotation. He made 29 starts in 2012, which is also when he threw a career-high 189 1/3 innings. Buchholz has made 18 starts and thrown 113 1/3 innings this season.
He rejects the label of injury-prone.
"It doesn't bother me how people think about me," he told reporters.
"I know I'm a good baseball player when I'm out there, so that's how I look at it."
The Red Sox hold $13 million club options on Buchholz for 2016 and 2017, a relatively modest sum compared to the four-year, $82.5 million contract extension the Sox gave Rick Porcello in the first week of the season. For that reason, and given how well he pitched, it would be a surprise if the Sox don't exercise the option.
"I've been here my whole career," he said. "I don't want to go anywhere."