Two days after his second 11-earned run start of the season, the Boston Red Sox have placed right-hander Tanner Houck on the 15-day injured list with a flexor pronator strain, the team announced Wednesday. Righty Cooper Criswell was called up in a corresponding move. On Tuesday, manager Alex Cora said Houck would remain in the rotation “as of now.”
“As of now, Tanner’s going to start the last game (of the upcoming Atlanta Braves series this weekend),” Cora said when asked whether Houck would make his next start (via MassLive.com).
Monday night, the Detroit Tigers blasted Houck for 11 runs (all earned) on nine hits and three walks in 2 ⅓ innings. That came a month after the Tampa Bay Rays tagged him for 12 runs (11 earned) in 2 ⅓ innings on April 12. That was the worst start by a Red Sox pitcher since 1962. Houck is the first pitcher to allow at least 10 runs twice in a season since Jason Hammel in 2016.
For the season, Houck has an 8.02 ERA and opponents are hitting .318/.389/.513 batting line against him. His troubles extend back further than this season too. Houck had a 2.54 ERA in the first half last season and was an All-Star. Since then, he’s pitched to a 5.81 ERA in 20 starts. Given the performance decline, it’s not terribly surprising Houck is injured. That explains things.
The Red Sox have not yet provided a timetable for Houck, though flexor strains typically aren’t short-term injuries. From 2021-23, the average flexor strain absence for a pitcher was 111 days missed, per the Baseball Prospectus Recovery Database, and flexor strains sometimes turn into Tommy John surgery. Not always, but sometimes.
The Red Sox are already down multiple starting pitchers. Their rotation depth chart looks like this at the moment:
- LHP Garrett Crochet
RHP Tanner Houck(out with flexor strain)RHP Walker Buehler(out with shoulder bursitis)- RHP Brayan Bello
- RHP Lucas Giolito
RHP Kutter Crawford(out with knee injury)RHP Richard Fitts(out with strained pectoral)- RHP Hunter Dobbins
- LHP Sean Newcomb
Buehler has been throwing bullpen sessions and is expected to return next week. Crawford and Fitts are on throwing programs as part of their rehab work but will be sidelined a little longer. Newcomb, who has a 3.51 ERA in five starts and four relief appearances, could step back into the rotation for Houck, though the Red Sox have not yet announced any rotation plans.
Boston enters play Wednesday in second place in the AL East at 22-22.
