D-backs’ Clay Buchholz to be shut down with flexor strain in right arm
Sep 14, 2018, 6:11 PM | Updated: Sep 15, 2018, 10:29 am
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Clay Buchholz sits in the dugout during the third inning of the team's baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Clay Buchholz will be shut down for the rest of the season due to a flexor strain in his right arm, manager Torey Lovullo said to Fox Sports Arizona after the game Friday.
It’s the same arm Buchholz had surgery on in April 2017, when he had a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm. He didn’t pitch again that season.
Buchholz was scratched before Thursday’s start with pain in his elbow and flew back to Arizona for an MRI. Lovullo, who didn’t say the pitcher would be shut down prior to the game Friday, said he wanted to talk to Buchholz before announcing it.
Buchholz had enjoyed a comeback year, going 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA since signing with Arizona in May. He allowed more than two runs only twice in 16 starts.
There was some good news out of the bullpen, though: T.J. McFarland returned to the team.
He has inflammation in his elbow, but he said he wanted to pitch through the pain.
“There’s a little irritation of a bone spur that’s in my elbow,” he said to Fox Sports Arizona. “I’m going to try and throw through it and tolerate it. I don’t think there’s any risk of further damage.”
McFarland has a 2.00 ERA over 72 innings this season, often pitching against specific left-handed matchups late in the game.
