With Clay Buchholz on the disabled list, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, pitching coach Bob McClure and assistant pitching coach Randy Niemann have discussions ahead on how they will assemble a rotation with a surplus of starting pitchers.
After Saturday's game, Valentine confirmed that Franklin Morales would receive another start. Since Aaron Cook got promoted and Josh Beckett is on the verge of returning, the team has several options.
"We have Franklin and we have a West Coast trip and we have Clay and now Cook, and we also have Josh coming back," Valentine said before Sunday's game. "It's a work in progress, let's say."
The Red Sox placed Buchholz on the disabled list Sunday with a gastrointestinal illness, and are now forced to adjust their pitching schedules on the fly. The illness crept up on the Red Sox starter around Thursday, just two days after his start against the Marlins.
Buchholz was examined at a local hospital and has since been stuck at home. The right-hander hasn't passed by Fenway Park over the past two days, and Valentine said the team intends to gradually ease him back from the stomach bug.
"We want to make sure he's right," Valentine said. "He'll have to throw off the mound and feel really good, and then we'll schedule another bullpen that will then be followed by a start. Hopefully it coincides right with when his 15 days are up. We won't rush it if, in fact, he needs another day or two."
Beckett, however, is seemingly on the mend. From the reports that Valentine has received from the training staff, the 32-year-old pitcher is "feeling good" about the progression of his right shoulder.
When the Red Sox travel to Seattle and Oakland, they'll have their hands full with pitching.
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