Apologetic Buchholz can’t wait to get back on the mound
PHILADELPHIA>> He’s sorry. That’s what Clay Buchholz told general manager Matt Klentak right after realizing he’d incurred another career-stopping forearm injury.
He’s sorry. That’s what Buchholz told his stillnew Phillies teammates, too, as soon as he had the chance to talk to them after a surgical procedure he hopes will get him back on a pitching mound as soon as possible.
“I told (Klentak) I was sorry and told the guys in here that I was brought here for a reason,” Buchholz said prior to the Phillies’ game Wednesday night against the Miami Marlins. “I wanted to pitch. I wanted to be good. I guess it’s a good thing they have a good farm system here because they’ve been able to step up and fill in. That’s what it takes to win championships, because you’re not going to stay with the same five guys all year long. You’ve got to have some guys step up.”
It would have seemed wholly unnecessary for Buchholz to step up and apologize for his second torn flexor tendon injury in three seasons. This one, he said, is “the same type of (right forearm) issue” that he’d suffered in 2015. That would be rehabilitated without surgery, though.
“When they X-rayed (this one) and compared the issues to ’15, there was definitely a bone pulled off the elbow,” said Buchholz, who would be tended to by renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews. “That’s where the surgery came into play — to keep moving that bone. They went in there and cleaned up whatever they needed to. From (Andrews’) insight of looking into it, they thought it would be an hour and a half (procedure), and it was only 45 minutes. When they went in there, he was expecting to see other things that they didn’t find on the X-ray.”
Andrews saw a bone separated from the tendon, but nothing surprising. Thus, the post-surgery conclusion for the patient: “It’s not out of the scenario for me to come back this year and pitch,” Buchholz said firmly.
And if that seems a little overly optimistic, well ... he’s sorry. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try to live up to the hopeful prognosis.
When Buchholz left his second start of the season in the third inning April 11, that prognosis didn’t look rosy. It went from there to presumptive season-ending surgery when the extent of the injury was revealed. Since then, however, Buchholz says everything has gone rather swimmingly, so his hope is renewed.
“It’s a flexor issue,” the 32-year-old Buchholz said. “That’s when (Andrews) went in and saw that there was a little tear in the flexor tendon where it connects. ... It was retracted. It was an incision and went in and sewed that up to anchor it back down.”
That quickly, the first steps of healing were well under way, beginning with any anxiety Buchholz might have had about continuing his career.
He said recovery will be the normal 4 or five months, including a program of range of motion exercises and the like. Baseball activites will follow. As time passes, however, Buchholz expects to feel better about his stated goal of returning.
For that, he will have nothing to be sorry for.
“It’s unfortunate for me and for this club,” he said. “I apologized to just about everyone that I should apologize to. Obviously, I didn’t want this to happen, but it did. And I was expecting the other side of the fence when I got here. My goal now is to let this heal, get it well and if this team keeps playing the way it is right now, we’ll be playing in September and October. And that’s my goal.
“I definitely don’t think I’m done playing,” he added. “I’ve stayed healthy for the most part. This is the first issue that has involved surgery for me. That’s always scary going into it. There are a lot of guys that come back; I’ve got a lot of buddies that come back from major surgeries and play for eight or nine more years.
“Once I do get healthy, it would be about coming back and building a strong foundation.”
As for the inevitable question of why the veteran right-hander kept quiet through spring training about the problem, he indicated it had only revealed itself after the season began.
“I think anybody would be lying to you if they played a whole lot of baseball and said they were 100 percent out there,” Buchholz said. “You have to pitch through some things. Some things jump up and get you. You let your guard down. I didn’t feel this. That was the best I’ve felt in a game warming up before my last start. It just sort of jumped up and got me.
“I wasn’t 100 percent, but I wasn’t 40 (percent either),” Buchholz said. “I was probably throwing at 85 percent, just trying to do what I was doing. Get by and build arm strength. Once I took one pitch of me overthrowing and trying to throw 95, then that’s when I start feeling it.”
*** NOTES >> In keeping with the optimistic theme, manager Pete Mackanin said Aaron Nola was improving with the back strain that put him on a retro 10-day DL. “He feels much better right now,” Mackanin said. “Hopefully, knock on wood, he’ll only miss the one start (this week).” If he continues to progress like this he’d likely be with the Phillies on their upcoming road trip. ... Asked if Nick Pivetta would see a start for the Phils this weekend Mackanin said, “That is the most likely candidate for Sunday. We’re just moving everybody back (due to Tuesday’s rainout). But he’s the most likely guy.” ... Pivetta went back to the IronPigs for the time being, per rules: “It’s kind of goofy but it’s to protect the player,” Mackanin said, “so we don’t carry a taxi squad around.”