Red Sox's Clay Buchholz: Could pitch in relief Sunday

Buchholz will be available to pitch out of the bullpen Sunday or Monday, the Boston Globe reports.

Analysis:

Buchholz told manager John Farrell he was available Saturday, but the manager wasn't going to use the right-hander, who had thrown 82 pitches as a starter Thursday. While getting demoted to the bullpen is clearly a disappointment for Buchholz, he should remain ready to start for a couple of reasons. First, Joe Kelly continues to battle inconsistency and is better suited to relief than Buchholz. Second, the available depth at Pawtucket has thinned: Henry Owens isn't commanding and Brian Johnson, who's battled uncharacteristic control problems, has taken a temporary leave from the team.