Tanner Houck to undergo Tommy John surgery, Alex Cora says
Houck won’t return in 2025, and could miss the entire 2026 season.
The Red Sox finally got some definitive news on Tanner Houck’s injury status, and it’s the worst-case scenario.
Alex Cora revealed to reporters on Saturday that Houck will indeed undergo Timmy John surgery. Putting an official end to his 2025 season, and leaving his 2026 campaign in serious doubt.
“Tough year for him,” Cora said. “Tough year for us. But he’ll kill the rehab. He’ll do his job and whenever he comes back, he’ll be OK.”
Houck was originally thought to have a relatively minor injury. He completed his minor league rehab assignment, but wasn’t prepared for a return, leading to Boston holding off on his activation. After the trade deadline, the Red Sox officially moved Houck from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL, making room to activate newly acquired bullpen arm Steven Matz.
For Houck, a rollercoaster of a 2025 season officially comes to an end. After making the AL All-Star team in 2024, Houck got off to a rough start to this season. He was already in danger of sliding down the rotation or losing his spot altogether, commanding an 8.04 ERA through nine starts. He did not register a single win as a starter through those nine games.
His rehab starts didn’t show much promise for improvement either, though hindsight would indicate something deeper could have been affecting his performance.
With Houck on the shelf for the rest of the year and then some, Boston’s starting pitching depth takes a serious hit down the stretch. The Red Sox did add a lower-rotation starter at the deadline in Dustin May, but there is still plenty of uncertainty with the overall group after Boston swung and missed on higher end starters like Joe Ryan.
And for Houck individually, the best case scenario is a full recovery — even if it means missing the entire 2026 season. Perhaps without any lingering pain on his throwing arm, he’ll be able to return to his All-Star form and leave the 2025 season in the past.
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