The Red Sox are close to getting two starting pitchers off the injured list.
Walker Buehler is set to start on Tuesday night against the Mets. He was diagnosed with bursitis in his shoulder after pitching seven strong innings at Cleveland on April 16.
It was something he could have pitched through but the decision was made to shut Buehler down and administer an anti-inflammatory shot.
“It was fine from the moment they took the needle out,” Buehler said. “I don’t think if it was late in the year we would necessarily have done the same things, but it was too early in the year to push through it.”
Buehler threw 62 pitches over a three-inning simulated game at Fenway Park on Thursday. He plans to treat Tuesday like a normal start.
Buehler was 4-1 with a 4.28 earned run average in six starts. But his last four were impressive as he allowed seven earned runs over 24⅓ innings and struck out 22.
Richard Fitts is a step or two behind Buehler. The righthander threw 40 pitches in a two-inning simulated game on Saturday.
Facing Romy Gonzalez, David Hamilton, and Connor Wong, Fitts threw at game speed to test the stability of his shoulder.
He has been on the injured list since April 13 after straining a pectoral muscle near his shoulder during a game against the White Sox in Chicago.
“I let my fastball eat,” Fitts said. “If I was going to feel anything, I would have. But I felt great.”
Fitts could pitch in a minor league game as soon as Thursday. He had a 3.18 earned run average in three starts prior to the injury.
“We’ll see how he feels [on Sunday] and map it out,” manager Alex Cora said.
Gonzalez, who is on the IL with a bruised quad, is feeling better. He is swinging fine but has trouble slowing down when he runs.
Catching up with Sale
Cora spent about 10 minutes before batting practice chatting with Chris Sale, who allowed one run over seven innings on Friday night as the Braves beat the Sox, 4-2.
At 36, Sale is averaging 95 m.p.h. with his fastball has a 2.48 ERA in his last seven starts.
“He’s healthy, he’s happy, but he still likes it [in Boston],” Cora said.
Cora said he still stays in touch with many players from the 2018 championship team.
“They watch. They know what’s going on here, and I know what’s going on with them,” he said.
The Sox traded Sale and $17 million to the Braves before the 2024 season for infielder Vaughn Grissom. Sale has since revitalized his career, going 20-6 with a 2.67 ERA over 29 starts.
Grissom hasn’t appeared in a major league game since he hit .190 with a .465 OPS in 31 games last season.
First things first
Kristian Campbell did some more pre-game work at first base. How will the Sox know when he is ready? “That’s a good one,” Cora said. “He’ll let us know, and we’ll see if we feel comfortable with it. There’s one thing that we want him to learn the position. It’s not like he will play the position. Let’s see how comfortable we are, how comfortable he feels, and then if we make the decision he’s going to play first, we’ll live it … Carlos Narváez has started the last four games at catcher and 31 of the 47 games this season … Marcelo Mayer was back at shortstop for Triple A Worcester on Saturday after playing second base on Friday. He was 2 for 5 in a 6-5 loss at Buffalo … Triston Casas spent some time at Fenway Park during the last road trip getting treatment on his surgically repaired left knee.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
