According to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald, the Red Sox have decided in favor of putting Clay Buchholz and his balky lower back on the disabled list. Buchholz was removed from his start on Thursday night against the Rays after five effective innings and only 81 pitches.
The move will be made retroactive to June 17th, meaning he’ll be eligible to return on July 2nd when the Red Sox are in Houston to play the Astros. In the interim, Andrew Miller will take his spot both on the roster and in the rotation. He will start tomorrow night’s game in San Diego.
Overall, I think this is the right move by the Red Sox. Buchholz’s back has been bothering him for the past few starts, and it hasn’t gotten any better with regular rest. With the emergence of Miller in AAA and Tim Wakefield pitching very well as of late; moving Buchholz to the DL allows the Red Sox to not only be cautious with their young ace, but also properly evaluate Miller. His injury is not believed to be serious, and should be activated when he becomes eligible.
In other Sox injury news, Carl Crawford (hamstring) and Jed Lowrie (shoulder) have also been placed on the disabled list. Josh Reddick and Drew Sutton have been called up in their place.