Less than a month after taking a line drive to the face, Tanner Houck is healing, working out, and ready to start throwing next week.
The 27-year-old right-hander suffered a facial fracture while pitching against the Yankees on June 16. He was fortunate to escape further damage, but the surgically-inserted plate will remain in his cheek for the rest of his life.
Originally slated to begin the season in the bullpen, the Red Sox moved Houck back to the rotation when several starters weren’t ready for Opening Day. It proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the 27-year-old righty immediately and consistently proved himself.
His 5.05 ERA and 4.42 FIP across 13 starts don’t tell the full story of his value this season. While his fellow starters began the season unable to pitch deeper than three or four innings, Houck has consistently gone the distance. In 10 of his 12 starts before his injury, he went five or more innings. Both of his last two games were against the New York Yankees, and he dominated them; he was having one of his best starts of the season when got hit.
Houck expects to throw for about two weeks to build up before taking the mound for some kind of rehab stint, but understandably, his manager won’t commit to a timeline yet.
“Honestly, I can’t answer that,” Alex Cora said when asked, “But the fact that he’s gonna be able to throw next week, that’s a good sign.”
The Red Sox reinstated Joely Rodriguez from the 15-day injured list on Saturday. He was their first free-agent signing during the offseason, but has only pitched in five games this season. He began the season on the IL after suffering an oblique strain during spring training, then missed about a month with shoulder inflammation.
“We know what he can do,” Cora said. “Stuff-wise, obviously not there yet as far as like, velo (velocity), but it’s a good sinker, it’s a good changeup, it’s a good slider, so we’ll find a spot and use him in certain situations.”
After years of bullpen struggles, the offseason overhaul is paying serious dividends.
Collectively, Boston’s bullpen has eight blown saves, tied for the fewest in the Majors; they finished last season with 39, just two below league average. And the argument could be made that it’s really seven, because Kaleb Ort was charged with a blown save on July 2, for allowing an earned run over two-thirds of the third inning.
In particular, the one-two punch of newcomers Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen in late, high-leverage situations has been a breath of fresh air.
Martin owns a 1.63 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over 29 appearances this season. The notoriously stingy southpaw has only issued three walks and one intentional walk over his 27 2/3 innings. He’s excelled at inducing weak contact, too; his 30 percent hard-hit rate is the best of his career by far.
Entering Saturday, the 37-year-old left-hander hasn’t allowed a run over his last 11 appearances, the third-longest scoreless streak of his career. He’s held opponents to a .171 average (6-for-35) and zero unintentional walks over that span.
“I remember, I think ’19, he came here with the Rangers and we talked about him,” Cora recalled. “He’s really good at what he does, and he’s been dominant.
“Early on, a little bit banged up,” the manager said of Martin, who went on the 15-day IL in April with shoulder inflammation, “We did what we needed to do to get him reset, and since he came back, he’s been great.”
Jansen is Boston’s lone All-Star representative this season, a well-deserved honor for the veteran closer. He began the season with eight scoreless appearances, in which he picked up a win and six saves. Overall, he’s posted a 3.34 ERA and 3.02 FIP across 31 appearances, finished 25 games, and converted 18 saves in 21 opportunities.
Even with his lowest-ever strikeout rate (27.3 percent) and an elevated walk rate (9.4 percent), Jansen is getting the job done. After an elevated 3.1 percent home run rate last season, he owns a 1.6 percent home run rate, tied for the third-best of his career.
The Red Sox are 22-7 when Martin pitches, and 23-8 in Jansen’s games. The missing third musketeer from the elite trio is John Schreiber. The 29-year-old has been dominant since joining the team in 2021. Over 18 appearances this season, the dominant owns a 2.12 ERA and 21 strikeouts across 17 innings. He’ll pitch on Sunday and again next week before the Red Sox reevaluate his progress.
“This is what we’re missing,” Cora said of the righty, who is currently rehabbing his own shoulder inflammation. “Schreiber was throwing the ball outstanding when he got banged up. Looking forward to having the three of them.”
Triston Casas’ younger brother, Gavin, has officially withdrawn from the 2023 MLB Draft. The 22-year-old announced Saturday that he will return to University of South Carolina to play for the Gamecocks in 2024.
Before transferring to USC last year, the younger Casas attended Vanderbilt University for two years. A first baseman like his older brother, Gavin put together an impressive junior year season at his new school. Over 61 games, he hit .259/.407/.569 with 10 doubles, 19 home runs, 56 runs driven in, and 60 scored. Named NCAA Columbia Regional Most Valuable Player and to the 2023 NCAA All-Columbia Regional team, he also made the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
Several former Gamecocks have come through the Red Sox organization, including Jackie Bradley Jr, Heath Hembree, and Steve Pearce, who won the 2018 World Series together.
Sunday’s series finale against the A’s marks the end of the first half of the season.
Following the All-Star break, the Red Sox kick off their second half with a road trip to Chicago and Oakland. Beginning next Friday, July 14, they’ll visit the Cubs for the weekend. Currently, Cora plans to have Brayan Bello, James Paxton, and Kutter Crawford start that three-game series.
After Chicago, they head to the Bay Area for three against the A’s. The Red Sox skipper expects the first two contests to be bullpen games, followed by Bello in the finale.
They have a day off on Thursday, July 20, then return home to host the New York Mets for three.