Tanner Houck’s season is over.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced on Saturday that the right-hander will undergo Tommy John surgery. There’s been no official timetable announced, but it’s safe to say he’s likely to miss all of the 2026 season.
“We don’t have a date yet, but he’s going to have (the surgery)," Cora said to reporters before the Red Sox’ game against the Astros on Saturday afternoon.
Tommy John surgery, which repairs the elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) carries a recovery timetable of 12-18 months
Boston moved Houck to the 60-day injured list on Friday to make room for newly acquired righty Dustin May. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow provided what was an ominous quote regarding the 2024 All-Star, indicating the team may not get Houck back before the end of the season.
“I think he is trying to weigh all of the information and figure out what the right course is,” Breslow said. “Obviously, I’ve not had a chance to talk to him over the last two days but will tomorrow. We’ll figure out, at that point, what the course of action is here and make that available as appropriate.”
Houck was placed on the 15-day injured list May 14 (retroactive to May 13) with a right flexor pronator strain. He’s been sidelined for more than two months, which made it easier to transfer him to the 60-day IL to make room for May. The Red Sox had shut down Houck from throwing after soreness resurfaced during his rehab outing in mid-July.
He allowed 10 runs in 15 2/3 innings (5.74 ERA) on 18 hits and six walks while striking out 15 over five rehab outings (four starts). Four of those five outings came with the WooSox, and one outing was with the Sea Dogs.
While on his rehab assignment before the All-Star break, the Red Sox shut him down, and he met with doctors to get a deeper understanding of why his arm injury hadn’t gotten any better. After the Sox tabled him from pitching, the club has been tight-lipped as to his status.
Cora did not indicate to reporters when Houck received word that his MRI revealed a UCL tear.
“I know that throughout the whole process, there were different opinions and that was the last one,” Cora said. “And Tanner decided to go with that one.”
Since the start of spring training, Houck had not looked like himself. He was brilliant last season, taking a major step forward as a starter in the league. Houck posted a 3.12 ERA in 30 starts over a career-high 178 2/3 innings and made his first career All-Star appearance. This season has been an entirely different story. He posted a 3.12 ERA in 30 starts over a career-high 178 2/3 innings before landing on the IL. Before the club placed him on the 15-day IL, he had two blow-up outings over a four-week span. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 2 1/3 innings on April 14 in Tampa. Following that, on May 12, he surrendered 11 runs (all earned) in 2 1/3 innings in Detroit.
In his last 23 starts dating back to June 29 of last season, Houck is 2-8 with a 5.75 ERA.
Before Houck was returned from the rehab assignment, there was speculation he could either be moved to the bullpen as a bulk-innings reliever or even optioned to Triple-A Worcester.
Houck becomes the fourth Red Sox pitcher to miss the remainder of the season. Hunter Dobbins suffered a season-ending ACL injury, Kutter Crawford has wrist surgery, and Patrick Sandoval, who is rehabbing from Tommy John, hasn’t bounced back like he hoped and will miss the remainder of 2025.
Throughout the course of his career, Houck has been no stranger to various alignments sidelining him from pitching. In August 2022, Houck was placed on the injured list due to lower-back inflammation. That September, it was announced that Houck would have season-ending back surgery. He missed time in 2023 after he was struck in the face by a line drive in a home game against the Yankees and was subsequently placed on the injured list with a facial fracture. He missed two months recovering from surgery.
Houck entered this season looking to build off his All-Star performance last year. He set career highs with 30 starts, hurling 178 2/3 innings, and struck out 154 batters. That’s 72 2/3 more innings than Houck has ever thrown in a big league season. The former first-rounder recorded a 3.9 WAR, which almost matched his combined career total.
He officially burst onto the scene during a start against the Guardians when he hurled a 2-0 complete-game shutout on April 17, 2024, at Fenway Park, tossing less than 100 pitches in the process, defeating the Guardians 2-0, and becoming the first Sox pitcher since Clay Buchholz to throw a “Maddux” since Aug. 31, 2014. A “Maddux” is when a starter throws a complete-game shutout and does it with fewer than 100 pitches. His performance tapered off in the second half, indicating the increased workload caught up to the righty. Shoulder fatigue hampered Houck, which led to a velocity dip down the stretch.
There were signs of his decline from the second half of last season and then this spring, where he recorded an 11.20 ERA in four starts. His velocity dipped at times, and he wasn’t able to create separation on his pitches. Cora told reporters this spring that the most important goal for Houck was to keep him healthy. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and he will miss the next year of his baseball career.
