For the Red Sox, the rehab progress for starting pitcher Tanner Houck has been a double-edged sword. While it’s a positive that Houck keeps on making starts and moving forward with his return to the Boston rotation, the results have been fairly unsightly.
In Houck’s last outing, he put up a perfect first inning against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but he imploded from there. He allowed four runs, walking two and hitting a batter, while also yielding three hits. He threw 49 pitches, and only 26 were strikes. The goal for that outing had been 90 pitches, and Houck did not get anywhere close.
That, combined with the nature of Houck’s elbow injury, which rendered him all but useless in the early weeks of the season, was cause for significant concern in Boston, where Houck was expected to be relied upon as the team’s No. 2 starter behind ace Garrett Crochet. Houck, after all, was an All-Star last season. But after nine games, he was 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA.
Red Sox Could Be Adding Depth
But finally, some good news on Houck: He was very good in his weekend start for Triple-A Worcester, allaying some of the fears that he might not be back at all in 2025. Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Houck will get another rehab start this week.
Per CBS Sports: “Houck turned in the best performance of his rehab assignment so far Friday at Double-A Portland, firing five shutout innings while striking out four batters. The upcoming All-Star break makes it hard to predict when the 29-year-old right-hander will rejoin the Red Sox, though he likely isn’t too far away from activation.”
That’s good news for a Red Sox rotation that is beginning to get some answers, as Crochet has been the ace he was supposed to be and Lucas Giolito has stepped up into the No.2 role for Boston. Brayan Bello has been solid, too, but the Red Sox badly need depth.
Houck could help solve that problem.
Tanner Houck’s Elbow a Concern
Still, the concern about Houck’s elbow remains. The Red Sox need him to stretch out, pitch-wise, and begin to show some of the variety that helped him last season. The arm soreness that bothered him earlier is not new, but elbow soreness is unusual. That’s why red flags were raised that something is wrong.
“I just wasn’t quite recovering in the same way I know my body should,” Houck said last month. “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.”
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