Red Sox Announce Decision on All-Star Pitcher Before Angels Game

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The Boston Red Sox announced a decision involving All-Star pitcher Tanner Houck as they prepare to face the Los Angeles Angels.

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Monday to win their fifth straight game and pull to within two games of the New York Yankees in the race for home field advantage in a Wild Card playoff series.

The win was the Red Sox’s 80th of the season, giving the club that stood at 32-46 on June 24 the third-best record in the American League, and their fourth winning streak of at least five games since that date.

Boston goes for its sixth win in a row when they host the 54-90 Los Angeles Angels Tuesday night. Before the game, the Red Sox made an announcement that indicated more help with their already-solid pitching staff could be on the way.

Tanner Houck, the Red Sox’s 2017 first-round draft pick, gets back on the mound Tuesday night, making an appearance for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs in what is slated to be his first game action in more than a year.

The outing marks the first real test of a rebuilt elbow that has sidelined the right-hander for more than 15 months.

Houck is ticketed for a 6 p.m. assignment with the Sea Dogs against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field, the opener of a six-game homestand, according to the Portland Press Herald. He is expected to work approximately one inning and throw 20 pitches.

A clean showing Tuesday sets up a bigger workload Friday, when Houck would elevate to 40 to 45 pitches in his next appearance with Portland, according to MLB.com Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

The Red Sox then plan to send him to Triple-A Worcester next week, though a schedule for that stint hasn’t been finalized with the WooSox on the road. Boston intends to use him out of the bullpen if he climbs back into the mix, with the final homestand — and possibly a postseason roster spot — the goal for the 30-year-old.

Houck’s Long Road Back From Surgery

Houck made his major league debut in September 2020 and earned his first All-Star selection in 2024, when he went 9-10 with a 3.12 ERA and 154 strikeouts over 30 starts.

Boston made him a first-round pick, 24th overall, in the 2017 draft out of the University of Missouri, where he ranked as the No. 8 college prospect available that year. His career totals stand at 24-32 with a 3.97 ERA and 449 strikeouts across 113 games, and he remains under team control through 2027.

Houck hasn’t pitched at any level since May 12, 2025, when he allowed 11 earned runs over 2.1 innings in a start at Detroit. Boston placed him on the injured list two days later with a right flexor pronator strain, closing out a rough stretch that saw him go 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA over nine starts.

A rehab assignment with Portland that July looked promising — five scoreless innings, four strikeouts, no walks — before a setback pushed Houck to the 60-day injured list on July 31. He underwent a hybrid reconstruction of his elbow ligament with a flexor tendon repair that August in Arlington, Texas, with Dr. Keith Meister performing the procedure, according to MLB.com.

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Houck Eyes Return to Boston’s Bullpen

“Long year, long process. But this was the goal from Day 1, to get back around this time and get some real competition under my belt,” Houck said, as quoted by Browne. “That never left my sight for a second, getting back around this time and facing real hitters, getting actual game competition.”

Houck’s return would give a Boston club chasing a playoff spot a boost.

“It’s been a fun team to watch from afar,” Houck said, per Browne. “The energy the players bring every night, the excitement level they bring to the city, I want to do nothing but help them in this postseason push and have a deep playoff run.”

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