Red Sox put Clay Buchholz on DL with elbow injury

BOSTON – If the Red Sox were going to have any hope of salvaging their season, Clay Buchholz was probably going to have to be leading the charge from the mound. The right-hander, who had been anointed the team's default ace in the offseason, had been living up to that billing recently.

Although he was 7-6 with a 3.27 ERA overall this season entering his Friday start against Yankees, in seven previous starts since June 2, he was 5-0 with a 1.99 ERA. It appeared Buchholz had turned a corner. More importantly, the Sox were riding a four-game win streak, their longest this season, with a chance to gain some ground against the American League East-leading Yankees.

Instead, Buchholz walked off the Fenway Park mound Friday with one out in the top of the fourth inning, after just 62 pitches. On Saturday the Red Sox announced Buchholz would be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow. It was not good news for a team that desperately needed some. But there was a silver lining -- there was no ligament damage to Buchholz's elbow.

"To me it sounds like this has been caught early on, or early enough where the changes have only been shown in that flexor muscle, not the ligament," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

Buchholz left Friday's game trailing 1-0 after a first-inning home run by Alex Rodriguez. He had runners at the corners with one out when he called catcher Sandy Leon to the mound.

"I was trying to push through that last inning but with each pitch that I threw I could tell it wasn't getting any better and it wasn't staying the same," Buchholz said. "It was more getting worse. That's when I called Sandy out."

An injury to the flexor muscle of the elbow can be an indicator of a more serious problem, such as a tear in a ligament. But, Farrell said an MRI showed no additional damage.

"[The MRI] did indicate that the ligament was clean,'' Farrell said. "We'll get a better idea of it throughout the weekend here, how long the initial shutdown period will be. It's going to depend on the extent of the initial injury.

"Clay's health is first and foremost in this. Talking with him late [Friday] night after he came back from the MRI, he was certainly relieved. But still, we've got to take the necessary steps to let this calm down and let him rebuild it.''

Buchholz said he was relieved by the diagnosis.

"It's always a relief," he said. "You never want to be out for 16, 18 months with a surgery. So that's a relief coming out and knowing that.

"(But) our team was on a pretty good run. I felt like I was doing pretty good out there too. So it always stinks whenever something like this happens."

Buchholz, who will be 31 on Aug. 14, is in the final year of four-year, $29.95 million deal. But the Red Sox hold options for 2016 at $13 million and 2017 at $13.5 million.

The right-hander has had a difficult time staying healthy throughout his nine-season career. This is the sixth consecutive year – and seventh in the last eight -- he will have spent time on the disabled list. In 2014, he missed 28 games with a hyperextended left knee. In 2013 he made just 16 starts, missing more than three months with neck and shoulder issues. In 2012, he missed time with a stomach ailment. His 2011 season ended on June 16 because of a lower back strain, and in 2010 he was out for almost a month because of a hamstring injury. He made just 16 major league starts in 2009, splitting his time in the minors. In 2008, his first time on the Opening Day roster, he was on the DL with a torn nail on his right middle finger.

"The other things weren't really baseball-related," Buchholz said. "I was hitting for the first time in six years, when I was running the bases and pulled my hamstring. I think by doing that and starting to pitch probably a little bit before I was ready to pitch, I hurt my back. Then the shoulder came and then the stomach issue with medicine I was taking. Only the past two times have really been baseball related."

Farrell said he is optimistic Buchholz will return this season.

"At this point, no, it's not a question," Farrell said. "There's nothing to suggest he won't. But until we get into a throwing program once that shutdown and rehab has taken place, we'll get more of a clear read at that point. He's got to take a break. We know that. How long, remains to be seen."

Left-hander Brian Johnson, one of Boston's top pitching prospects, was called up to take Buchholz's place on the roster. This is Johnson's first major league stint. In 16 starts for Class AAA Pawtucket, Johnson was 8-6 with a 2.73 ERA.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/redsox/2015/07/11/clay-buchholz-boston-red-sox-rotation-injury-new-york-ny-yankees-al-east-disabled-list-dl/30032851/