DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Clay Buchholz had to do more than just stay healthy in his well-documented return to the mound last season. He also had to completely re-invent himself.

It has been almost 12 years since Buchholz first broke onto the scene with the Red Sox. At the time, he was an energetic right-hander who had a fearless approach, with mid-to-upper 90s velocity to back it up.

The raw abilities were almost enough to make up for everything else. When Buchholz got into trouble, he could reach back for a little bit extra and blow hitters away. It's not like that anymore, but Buchholz believes he found a way to maximize what he has left.

"Everybody throws a hundred miles an hour now it seems like," Buchholz said. "I think the 88 to 92 might be under hitting speed now. [Last year] I tried to use each pitch I had in my arsenal to set up one another.

"I learned from that. That’s how I treated every pitch I threw last year. It was a look-in-the-mirror moment [for] me to figure out how to evolve and do it with stuff that is a little diminished but still quality."

The four-pitch mix might be the same, but it comes out of his hand differently now. According to Statcast, when Buchholz debuted in 2007 he was averaging 95 mph on his fastball. By 2014, that number dropped to 92.4 and four years after that it was down to 90.1.

Not too many power pitchers are able to transform into a finesse guy, but that's what Buchholz was able to accomplish last season. After missing almost all of 2017 with an injury, Buchholz returned to go 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA over 16 starts for the Diamondbacks.

The string of solid outings was enough to earn Buchholz some fringe consideration for the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award, which ultimately went to Atlanta's Jonny Venters, and also resulted in a one-year contract with the Blue Jays.

"I don’t feel like I’m old, but in the game 34 is sort of old now," Buchholz said. "There were a couple of times in the last two years where I thought it might be over, had a good run. But I wasn’t ready to be done playing by any means so I’m glad we got this figured out over here."

The Blue Jays have yet to officially decide what they intend to do with Buchholz. The expectation is that he will eventually join the rotation, but it might not happen by Opening Day. Instead Toronto plans to take a cautious approach and bring Buchholz along slowly for a debut a little later in the year.

Buchholz has been throwing a lot this spring but has yet to face live hitters. His work in camp will begin with bullpens, then simulated games and eventually a spring appearance against other teams. There might be enough time to get all of that done by Week 1, but with Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Matt Shoemaker, Clayton Richard and Ryan Borucki also available to start, the club is in no rush to make a final roster decision quite yet.

"He’s been throwing, he just hasn’t been seeing live competition and we’ll be thinking about the entirety of the season and not just Opening Day," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. "Opening Day certainly could occur more realistically if he were in the 'pen, but having him as a starting option will be also our focus. If it means that it’s a little bit later into the season, then we’ll adjust."