Injured Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz to throw Saturday, on target for Tuesday return

Clay Buchholz hasn't pitched since June 8, and currently on the disabled list to rest the neck soreness that has plagued him over the last few weeks. While it hasn't affected his performance, it has kept him off of the mound, and the Red Sox wanted to be careful with him in order to keep him healthy for later on in the season.

This should hopefully all be over soon, as Boston's best pitcher threw on Thursday, and is set to throw an extended bullpen session on Saturday according to MLB.com's Ian Browne:

"He went out and threw today, out to 100 feet, did some flat ground [work]," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "We're hopeful that he'll get on the mound here in the next day or two. And he'll need to in advance of Tuesday. The ideal scenario would be for him to get an extended bullpen or have some ups and downs in it.

Tuesday opens a series against the Colorado Rockies at Fenway park, and as long as everything goes well for Buchholz in his session on Saturday, he should be the one kicking that three-game set off. The Red Sox remain in first place without Buchholz around, and thanks to Alfredo Aceves, have managed to succeed during his recent turns in the rotation. Still, you can't expect that to go on forever, so getting back a healthy Buchholz, who is in the midst of his best season, would be huge for Boston going forward.