The Boston Red Sox were expected to have Tanner Houck on the mound for their Friday night game against the New York Yankees in The Bronx, but an hour before the game, Boston pivoted to Richard Fitts as the team's starter.
Houck had already been pushed back in the rotation due to experiencing some shoulder fatigue after his last start against the New York Mets.
During the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained why Houck was scratched.
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"When he got to the ballpark, he wasn't feeling great," Cora said. "He went through the assessments, and he was a little bit weaker with his shoulder today compared to yesterday. We have to take care of the player. We're not doing our job if we send him, the way he is right now, to the mound."
After the game, Cora elaborated a bit more, saying that Houck was a bit tight when working out with head athletic trainer Brandon Henry, but the Red Sox do plan for him to start in their next series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“We don’t feel like this is going to take longer,” Cora said (via. MassLive). “Brandon, he was very proactive. This guy’s very important for us, not only now but for the future. For him to go out the way he was, we were going to pay the consequences after that one. We’ll take care of him the next few days and see where we’re at.”
Houck has been Boston's best starter this season, posting a 3.24 ERA and a 1.167 WHIP while striking out 150 batters. However, he's thrown 169 2/3 innings this year, and his previous career-high was 106 innings (2023), so it's no surprise that he's feeling the effects of the workload.
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