Clay Buchholz was supposed to throw a bullpen side session Friday afternoon before the Red Sox faced Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners, but the Red Sox' training staff decided instead to have him play long-toss and pitch off flat ground.
Buchholz, who's been on the disabled list since early June with what can only be described as a phantom back injury, has shown signs of improvement, throwing without pain off of flat ground, but whenever he tries to throw off the mound, the pain returns.
He's now scheduled to throw a bullpen Sunday or Monday, but it's become common knowledge that those dates are very tentative and could easily be pushed back days or weeks again.
With Jon Lester coming off the DL on Monday to face Kansas City, the Red Sox' staff is slowly getting healthier, but it's no secret that Terry Francona and company would like to have their number three starter back as well.