IMAGE: Imagn Images<\/div>\n
Tanner Houck Eyes September Return as Red Sox Pitching Depth Faces Long-Season Test<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Boston Red Sox entered this offseason with something they haven\u2019t always had in recent years: a surplus of starting pitching. That depth has been so robust that Tanner Houck\u2019s elbow surgery – and the long road back from it – has flown under the radar. But as spring training gets underway, Houck\u2019s name is starting to resurface, and for good reason.<\/p>\n
Houck, who stepped into the No. 1 starter role in 2024 after Lucas Giolito went down with a UCL injury, is now working his way back from a similar fate. He underwent Tommy John surgery after a frustrating 2025 campaign that saw him struggle through a right flexor pronator strain – an injury that took months to properly diagnose. By the time the Red Sox shut him down and placed him on the 60-day injured list on July 31, the numbers told the story: an 8.04 ERA, a 1.69 WHIP, and 10 home runs allowed in just 43.2 innings.<\/p>\n
The injury lingered, and when pitchers and catchers reported to camp on February 10, Houck was officially returned to the 60-day IL. Still, there\u2019s optimism. Houck is expected to begin throwing next week – a critical milestone in his recovery – and he\u2019s reportedly targeting a September return to the mound.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big \u201cif,\u201d of course. The road back from UCL surgery is long and rarely linear.<\/p>\n
Just ask Patrick Sandoval or Liam Hendriks – both of whom have taken their lumps during the recovery process. But if Houck can find his rhythm late in the year, he could be a major X-factor in a playoff push.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not forget what he looked like when he was right. In the first half of the 2024 season, Houck was electric. Over 117 innings, he posted a 2.54 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and racked up 112 strikeouts against just 26 walks – numbers that earned him his first All-Star nod and had him looking every bit the part of a frontline starter.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox aren\u2019t exactly hurting for arms right now. Garrett Crochet, Ranger Su\u00e1rez, Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Sandoval are all in the mix for rotation spots this spring. Add in top prospects Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, and Boston has a full house competing for innings.<\/p>\n
But if we\u2019ve learned anything from a 162-game grind, it\u2019s that depth can vanish in a hurry. Just look back at the end of 2025, when injuries ravaged the rotation and forced the Red Sox to call up Early and Tolle for their MLB debuts. Things got so thin that Jos\u00e9 De Le\u00f3n – a minor leaguer at the time – was tapped to make the club\u2019s final start of the season.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Houck\u2019s return, even in a limited September role, could be more than just a feel-good story. If he can recapture even a fraction of his pre-injury form, he could be a late-season difference-maker – the kind of arm who can swing a series or stabilize a rotation when the stakes are highest.<\/p>\n
For now, it\u2019s all about the next step: getting back on a mound. But keep an eye on Houck. If the Red Sox are in the thick of a playoff race come September, his return could be one of the most important developments of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IMAGE: Imagn Images Tanner Houck Eyes September Return as Red Sox Pitching Depth Faces Long-Season Test The Boston Red Sox entered this offseason with something they haven\u2019t… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n
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