Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the team is still gathering information on Houck's back injury, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Houck was placed on the injured list Tuesday with lower-back inflammation. The pitcher has a couple of appointments with physicians coming up, and the Red Sox will have a better idea about a timeline after Houck has been evaluated.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Lands on injured list
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Houck was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Aug. 6, with lower-back inflammation.
Houck hasn't seen the mound since pitching back-to-back games on the first two days of August, so it's unclear when exactly he suffered the injury. The 26-year-old has been operating as Boston's primary closer, and Garrett Whitlock and John Schreiber are the likely candidates to step in while Houck is sidelined.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Logs another save
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Houck saved Tuesday's 2-1 win against the Astros, tossing 1.2 perfect innings. He failed to record a strikeout.
Houck was brought in with two on and one out in the bottom of the eighth and escaped the jam on just four pitches, then delivered a 1-2-3 frame in the ninth for his second save in as many days. Manager Alex Cora's use of the 26-year-old for consecutive saves cements his status as Boston's primary closer after Garret Whitlock picked up two saves at the end of July. Houck possesses a 3.15 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with 56 strikeouts in 60 innings, with eight saves in 32 appearances.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Clean inning for save
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Houck fired a perfect ninth inning, striking out one to earn the save in Monday's 3-2 win over the Astros.
Houck had allowed a run in each of his last two appearances, but he was sharp after going four full days between outings. The save was his first since June 25 -- that's a product partly of his own shaky performance but mostly from the Red Sox's brutal July swoon. The right-hander has a 3.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 56:22 K:BB in 58.1 innings with seven saves, a blown save and a hold through 31 appearances (four starts).
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Takes fourth loss
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Houck (5-4) allowed a run on one hit in one inning, taking the loss Wednesday versus the Guardians.
Houck entered with the game tied at 6-6 and gave up a solo home run to Josh Naylor. That ended up being the deciding run. Houck has surrendered a run in three of his last five outings, and he hasn't earned a save since June 25 as the Red Sox have slumped to the bottom of the AL East. The right-hander owns a 3.30 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 55:22 K:BB with six saves in 57.1 innings across 30 appearances (four starts) this year.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Blows save, gets win
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Houck (5-3) recorded the win in Friday's 5-4 extra-innings victory over the Yankees after blowing his first save of the season, allowing an unearned run on two hits and two walks over two innings. He also hit a batter with a pitch and didn't get a strikeout.
Entrusted with a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning, Houck put the first two batters of the inning aboard before throwing the ball wide of third base on what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, allowing Gleyber Torres to score the tying run. The right-hander avoided any more damage thanks to double plays in the ninth and 10th, however, and he was still the pitcher of record when Boston scored in the top of the 11th. Houck hasn't picked up a save since June 25, but for now he still appears to be manager Alex Cora's first choice to close out games.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Back from restricted list
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Houck was reinstated from the restricted list Thursday, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.
Houck will return to the team following their series in Toronto, which he was unavailable for because of his vaccination status. He'll return to manning the backend of the Red Sox bullpen as the team starts a series against the Cubs on Friday.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Goes on restricted list
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The Red Sox placed Houck (personal) on the restricted list Monday.
Houck's placement on the list was fully expected, as he was previously inactive for the Red Sox's series in Toronto in late April due to his vaccination status. Since Houck remains unvaccinated two months later, he won't be eligible to cross the Canadian border and will be unavailable for the entire three-game series in Toronto. John Schreiber and Matt Strahm look like the top options to pick up saves before Houck returns to the fold for the Red Sox's three-game series against the Cubs this weekend.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Set to miss Toronto series
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The Red Sox are expected to place Houck on the restricted list prior to Monday's series opener in Toronto, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports.
Because he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19, Houck won't be eligible to cross the Canadian border and will miss the Red Sox's second series of the season in Toronto after he was previously unavailable for the four-game set at Rogers Centre in late April. While the team is in Canada, Houck will throw a live batting practice session in Boston to stay sharp before he's eligible to rejoin the Red Sox in Chicago for their series with the Cubs that begins Friday. Houck has emerged as Boston's preferred option at closer over the past three weeks, but John Schreiber and Matt Strahm will likely represent the best bets to pick up save chances during the Toronto series.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Secures sixth save
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Houck earned the save against the Guardians on Saturday with a perfect inning of work.
Houck needed only seven pitches -- six of which were strikes -- to set the side down in order in the ninth inning. For the first time in 10 contests, the right-hander failed to record a strikeout, but that's of little concern given the results. Houck has notched a save in six of his past seven appearances and has gained a stranglehold on Boston's closer role with a 1.69 ERA and 14:1 K:BB over 10.2 innings since the start of June.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Makes non-save appearance
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Houck allowed one run on three hits while striking out two over the ninth inning of Friday's 6-3 win over the Guardians.
With the Red Sox leading 5-2 to start the ninth inning, Houck was warming up for a potential save but didn't get the opportunity after Boston plated a run in the top half of the frame. Houck is set to miss the three-game series in Toronto that begins Monday, so the Red Sox may get him work this weekend regardless of the situation to keep him fresh.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Waiver Wire Targets
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Houck now has the past five saves for the Red Sox, and appears to have been who they've been waiting for to stabilize the bullpen. Perhaps most tellingly, Houck got the save Monday even though he had worked the previous day, the first time he has worked consecutive days since transitioning to the bullpen. Houck has big-time strikeout potential and the Red Sox are a good team, so he's a must-roster player wherever saves matter.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Not headed to Toronto
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Houck will not make the trip to Toronto for next week's three-game series against the Blue Jays due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. The series runs from Monday to Wednesday.
Houck has evolved into the role as Boston's closer, but manager Alex Cora will have to get creative if the Red Sox need a save during the series. The right-hander opened the season as part of Boston's rotation but was moved to the bullpen, ironically, after he didn't make the team's first trip to Canada in April. Since then, Houck has been a Swiss army knife out of the bullpen and eventually settled in as the best ninth-inning option.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Notches fifth save
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Houck allowed one hit in a scoreless frame against the Tigers on Monday. He struck out one batter and earned a save.
Houck coughed up a one-out single to Spencer Torkelson but had no issue closing out the 5-2 win over Detroit. He's earned a save in five straight outings, allowing one run on five hits over 3.2 frames during that span. Monday's was notable because it was the first time Houck pitched on back-to-back days since becoming a regular in the bullpen. The 25-year-old is sporting a 3.45 ERA as he looks to have a solid hold on the closer role in Boston.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Possible waiver wire pickups
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Can we just say it now? Houck is the Red Sox closer. It was made abundantly clear by him recording a one-out save both Friday and Sunday. He now has each of the team's past four, all coming within the span of 10 days. Since transitioning to the bullpen for good on May 15, he has a 0.92 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 9.2 K/9 in 11 appearances, and his limited arsenal seems to be playing up over shorter spurts. As much mixing and matching as manager Alex Cora has had to do at the end of games this year, his consistency with Houck speaks volumes.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Records one out
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Houck earned a save against the Cardinals on Sunday. He allowed one hit and struck out one batter.
Boston held a 6-1 lead in the ninth, but after a three-run homer from Juan Yepez, Houck was needed to record the final out. He coughed up an infield hit to Tommy Edman before striking out Brendan Donovan to finish off the contest. Houck has picked up a save in each of his last four outings and has lowered his ERA to 3.53 through 43.1 frames.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Escapes with third save
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Houck gave up a run on two hits with one strikeout in one-third of an inning Friday to record his third save of the season in a 6-5 win over the Cardinals.
Boston led 6-1 heading into the ninth inning, but after Austin Davis made a mess of things with two outs, Houck got the call and barely escaped the jam, serving up back-to-back doubles to Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan before finally striking out Paul Goldschmidt. Houck has converted three straight save chances since being moved into a high-leverage relief role, while Friday's run was the first on his ledger since May 15. Out of the bullpen this season, the right-hander has a 3.08 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 29:9 K:BB through 26.1 innings, and he may be the guy to bring some stability to the Red Sox closing picture.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Possible waiver wire pickups
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Turns out the Red Sox's much sought-after closer may have been hiding in other roles all this time. Tanner Houck of course began the year in the starting rotation and has spent most of his professional career there, but he transitioned to long relief toward the end of April and has more recently gotten a look as a high-leverage reliever late in games -- late as in the ninth inning both Friday and Sunday. Whenever a pitcher records back-to-back saves for a team in desperate need of a closer, you have to treat it as the start of something. Houck might be best suited for the role, featuring nothing but hard stuff, which includes a wipeout slider.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Logs second save of weekend
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Houck saved Sunday's 2-0 win against the Mariners, striking out one in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Houck needed just eight pitches to notch his second save in as many appearances and is primed to receive more opportunities ahead with fellow closer Hansel Robles blowing a save Saturday. The 25-year-old has fired 16 scoreless innings across his last eight appearances -- all in relief -- with 16 strikeouts and four walks in the span. Houck lowered his season ERA from 5.40 to 3.38 with the impressive stretch and should continue to see a high-leverage role in Boston's bullpen.
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Red Sox's Tanner Houck: Shaky in first save
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Houck allowed a hit and hit a batter while striking out two in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Friday's 4-3 win over the Mariners.
Houck needed 22 pitches (13 strikes) to get through the frame, but he was able to escape with his first save of the campaign. The right-hander has seen a versatile role throughout the year, but manager Alex Cora is committed to giving him a look in high-leverage relief situations going forward. Through 41.2 innings in 15 appearances (four starts), Houck has a 3.46 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 40:16 K:BB. With Hansel Robles back from the injured list Thursday, the back end of the Red Sox's bullpen is likely to grow increasingly crowded until a favorite for saves emerges.
