Boston Red Sox’s Clay Buchholz taking things slow

The last time we saw Boston Red Sox Starting Pitcher Clay Buchholz in action, he was fighting through arm fatigue to start game 4 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Buchholz battled through his trouble to give the Red Sox four innings in which he gave up just one unearned run. The Red Sox won the game 4-2 and evened up the series. They’d go on to win the next two games to capture the World Series Championship.

Buchholz was back in action Monday, participating in a light workout with fellow pitchers Jon Lester and John Lackey.

“Usually coming into camp I’€™ve thrown four or five bullpens and ready to go. This year I didn’€™t throw any bullpens,” Buchholz told Rob Bradford of WEEI. “So this year I’€™m using spring training for the purpose of spring training, that’€™s to get ready for the season this year.”

Last season, Buchholz went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA, but injuries limited him to just 16 starts.

“This offseason has been a little bit different than in the past, not having the mound time off. In recent years I’€™ve gotten to spring training being basically in midseason form as far as being off the mound. Speaking with the training staff I needed to take a step back from that and make sure everything was fully recovered, not to push anything too far, too soon. It’€™s a different route than I’€™ve gone the last four or five years coming into camp, just playing catch and long-toss. But I feel a lot better by doing that rather than just jumping into the throwing program when I normally would do it.”