The Boston Red Sox announced Thursday that All-Star right-hander Tanner Houck will start a minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Portland next week as he continues his recovery from elbow surgery.
The update arrived as the club prepared to open a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. Boston has lost six of its last eight games after an 8-3 defeat to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Pitching has been a major problem during the slump. Over the last 10 games the staff has posted a 5.66 ERA, a sharp contrast to the 3.25 ERA it recorded across the previous 50-game stretch.
The Orioles now sit just six games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race, adding extra weight to the series that begins Thursday in Baltimore.
Houck’s pending assignment offers a potential lift for a staff that has struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard. According to Tim Healey of the Boston Globe, the right-hander is scheduled to begin work with Portland next week.
The timing remains tight. Only a short window exists between those affiliate outings and Boston’s possible postseason opener on Sept. 29, making Houck’s path to October baseball uncertain.
This week Houck threw a scrimmage-style session at the team’s Fort Myers, Florida, complex. He threw 15 to 18 pitches, with his fastball sitting around 92 mph and touching 94 mph.
Interim manager Chad Tracy called the session encouraging, according to Healey.
Boston plans to use Houck in relief rather than as a starter if he returns. That would mark a change for a pitcher who served as the team’s Opening Day No. 2 starter a year ago and earned All-Star honors in 2024. Reports indicate he is ticketed for long relief, a role similar to the one planned for fellow rehabbing left-hander Garrett Crochet.
Houck’s latest absence began with a right flexor-pronator strain that placed him on the injured list retroactive to May 13, 2025. He had made nine starts to that point, going 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA in 43 2/3 innings. He later moved to the 60-day injured list on July 31.
On Aug. 18, 2025, Houck underwent hybrid reconstruction of his right ulnar collateral ligament along with a flexor-tendon repair. Dr. Keith Meister performed the operation at the Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery. Houck has not pitched in a major-league game since.
Major League Baseball rules allow pitchers a maximum of 30 days on a minor-league rehab assignment, compared with 20 days for position players. A player continues to receive his major-league salary during that time. Boston can activate Houck before the limit if he demonstrates he is ready.
Tanner Lee Houck was born June 29, 1996, in St. Louis. The 6-foot-5 right-hander was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Collinsville High School in Illinois in 2014 but chose to attend the University of Missouri, where he recorded 292 strikeouts, the second-highest total in program history.
Boston selected him 24th overall in the first round of the 2017 draft. He made his major-league debut on Sept. 15, 2020, going 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA in his first three starts.
His best season came in 2024, when he made his first All-Star team, won Red Sox Pitcher of the Year honors from the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, and posted career highs of 30 starts, 178 2/3 innings and 154 strikeouts along with a 3.12 ERA.
His career record stands at 24-32 with a 3.97 ERA and 449 strikeouts in 474 1/3 innings.
A late-September return to Boston’s bullpen remains possible if Houck’s outings in Portland go well and his velocity holds. A return to the starting rotation before the postseason does not appear realistic given the limited innings and recovery time available.
If his elbow continues to respond, the more likely role is as a relief pitcher when October baseball begins.
