Clay Buchholz won’t be back with the Red Sox any time soon

While Jon Lester is optimistic that he’ll be able to return as soon as next Friday, we probably won’t see Clay Buchholz back with the Red Sox any time soon.

The rehabbing right-hander was able to play catch yesterday and plans to do so again tomorrow, but he told Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald this afternoon that there’s no timetable for his return.

Buchholz showed up to the ballpark today “encased in a massive heating pad” and said he won’t throw off a mound until the muscle strain in his lower back feels closer to 100 percent. He received a cortisone injection in his back when he visited Dr. Craig Brigham in North Carolina last week.

“It’s basically just going to be a feel thing,” Buchholz said. “It’s something that I don’t think I can really rush into or try to do more than I can on that particular day just for the fact that it’s a muscle in my back. It sucks. Obviously, I want to be pitching, I want to help the team in any way I can. Me going out there not 100 percent, or not 80 percent, I don’t think is going to help the team any. I think if I rush back into it, it will be something that will be here for the rest of the season and I don’t want that. I’d rather be ready to pitch at 100 percent and I feel like that’s the way that I can help this team win.”

Buchholz hasn’t pitched since leaving a start against the Rays on June 16. He was 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA and 60/31 K/BB ratio over 14 starts prior to the injury.