BOSTON — Red Sox starter Tanner Houck took a step toward returning to the rotation Friday, and if all goes well in the coming days, he’ll take another one very soon.
Houck threw an “up-and-down” (two-inning) bullpen consisting of about 20 pitches on the Fenway Park field Friday, and if he recovers well from it, could go on a rehab assignment as soon as Wednesday, according to manager Alex Cora. It’s possible Houck pitches for the WooSox at Polar Park on Wednesday against Buffalo.
“Most likely, he’ll go on a rehab assignment Wednesday,” said Cora. “Or have one more of these and then go at the end of the week. He feels really good about it. Just watching from the backstop, good fastball, good breaking ball and good split.”
Houck has been sidelined since May 14 with a right flexor pronator strain. At first, considering Houck had just had another blow-up outing that ballooned his ERA to 8.04 ERA through nine starts, it looked to be a “phantom” injured list assignment. Now, though, Houck acknowledges that the issue had bothered him since spring training and thrown him out of whack in April and May.
“I just wasn’t quite recovering in the same way I know my body should,” Houck said Friday. “At this point in my career, I know where I get sore and I know where I need to get sore and what’s normal for me. Ultimately, it was going into the wrong spots. For me, I’m a shoulder soreness guy. For me to get sore in the elbow like that, it’s just not normal.
“I had a little bit starting in spring training. All in all, I just want to pitch and be out there. It flared up a little bit more than feels comfortable. It was time to take a step back and trust the other guys.”
On May 12 in Detroit, Houck — for the second time in four weeks — posted one of the ugliest pitching lines you’ll ever see. In 2 ⅓ innings against the Tigers, he was tagged for 11 earned runs on nine hits (including two homers) in a 14-2 Red Sox loss. After the game, a despondent Houck contended that there was nothing physically wrong. Two days later, the Sox placed him on the IL.
Now, Cora says the Red Sox weren’t aware of anything physically wrong with Houck, who tried to pitch through the arm injury.
“He didn’t talk too much about it,” Cora said. “We pitched him every five days. Maybe towards the end, it affected him, but early in the season we thought he was close to 100%, of course.”
Houck was shut down from throwing for a few weeks before starting to play catch and, eventually, getting back off the mound. He feels like his arm is in a better place that any point in 2025, though the real test will come in what should be a multi-outing rehab stint in Worcester.
“Overall, I feel a lot better with the body, delivery, arm especially,” Houck said. “I feel a lot stronger and able to execute my pitches.”
Houck, an All-Star last season, was a candidate to emerge as Boston’s No. 2 starter behind ace Garrett Crochet this season. But after scuffling down the stretch and reaching a career-high in workload (178 ⅔ innings), he was hit hard in spring training and even harder once the season began. Being shut down for a month will surely help Houck’s arm heal. But it could also serve as a much-needed mental reset and chance for the Red Sox to get back into the lab with the soon-to-be 29-year-old.
“We’re about to see,” Cora said. “He feels like he’s healthy, been working on a few things mechanically and all that. At the end, it’s execution, right? The stuff wasn’t that off compared to last year. He felt good today.”
The Red Sox could really use the version of Houck that had a breakout year in 2024. First, though, the goal is getting him healthy enough to rejoin a rotation that enjoyed strong bounce-back outings from Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler earlier this week.
“With recovery and being on the IL, you shouldn’t really put expectations,” Houck said. “Just try to show up and have a good day each and every day and get the stuff done that ultimately helps you get on the field as quick as possible.”
