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Craig Breslow Making ‘Progress,’ But Still No Set Date for Lefty to Begin Throwing Off Mound

Somewhat lost in the Red Sox’ plethora of offseason moves — which resulted in plenty of new faces — is the re-signing of reliever Craig Breslow. The left-hander pitched well down the stretch for Boston in 2012 and could help a great deal in 2013, but he’ll first need to get healthy, and things still seem a bit up in the air.

Breslow has been sidelined throughout spring training because of inflammation in his left shoulder. He continues to throw at a distance of 90 feet, but Red Sox manager John Farrell understands Breslow will need to show some more progress before pitching in games becomes an option.

“[He's making] progress, albeit very slow,” Farrell told reporters. “He’s gone from an every-other-day throwing program to two days on, one day off. We don’t have a date set for him to get on the mound for a bullpen yet.

“We’re making sure there are strength gains made in the shoulder to begin to ramp up. He’s in a combination of shoulder strengthening and a controlled throwing program right now.”

Breslow went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 20 innings spread out over 23 appearances with the Red Sox after Boston acquired the reliever just prior to the trade deadline. Overall, the lefty went 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 63 1/3 innings over 63 appearances.

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