Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck to undergo Tommy John surgery

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Aug 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — Tanner Houck’s difficult 2025 season has officially reached its conclusion.

The Red Sox right-hander will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), manager Alex Cora announced Saturday afternoon.

“He went to see Dr. Meister there in Texas, and that was the recommendation,” Cora said, referring to the renowned orthopedic surgeon, who serves as the Texas Rangers’ head physician and has operated on several Red Sox players, including shortstop Trevor Story, and relievers Liam Hendriks and Chris Murphy. “I don’t have the details of (the MRI). I know that throughout the whole process there were different opinions, and that was the last one, and Tanner decided to go with that one.”

This season has been a heartbreaking turn of events for Houck, who debuted in September 2020, and is now the organization’s longest-tenured player, following the Rafael Devers trade in June. Houck was a first-time All-Star last year, and pitched to career-best marks in ERA (3.12), starts (30), innings pitched (178.2) and strikeouts (154).

Through just nine starts totaling 43 2/3 innings this season, Houck posted a 8.04 ERA with 32 strikeouts. It became apparent early on that he was struggling. Last year, he struck out 20.7% of batters, walked just 6.5%, and allowed home runs at a sterling 1.5% rate, nearly half the league average (3.1%). This year — though a smaller sample size — the strikeout rate plummeted to 15.8%, he issued walks at an 8.4% clip and the home runs skyrocketed to 4.9%.

Houck last pitched on May 12 in Detroit. The Red Sox initially placed him on the injured list with a flexor pronator strain. He went on a rehab assignment, but when it was due to expire in late July, the Red Sox returned him to the IL rather than activate him.

Tommy John carries a recovery timetable of 12-18 months, meaning Houck could miss all of next season as well.

“Tough year for him, tough year for us,” Cora said, “but he’ll kill the rehab. He’ll do his job, and whenever he comes back, he’s gonna be OK.”

Mayer to get injection for wrist injury

Marcelo Mayer was slated to get an injection for his wrist on Saturday. The Red Sox hope it will allow the rookie infielder to not only play again this season, but avoid more serious courses of action, such as surgery, as well.

“We have to wait three days to see if it works,” Cora explained. “And then he will start doing baseball activities and see how he reacts to it.”

The shot is “to get him back,” the manager said. “He really wants to get back, and this is the route.”

“I think this is one of the ways of getting him back,” Cora added. “This is the quickest one. They decided as a group that we’re gonna go this route. So hopefully it works and he can be back with us this season.”

More Red Sox injury updates

Justin Slaten threw his first bullpen Saturday afternoon.

“There’s no timetable, but that he’s on the mound, that means that he’s obviously closer than a few weeks ago,” Cora said.

An hour before Saturday’s game, the Red Sox announced they had reinstated right-handers Zack Kelly and Nick Burdi from the 15-day and 60-day injured list, respectively, and optioned them to Triple-A Worcester. They also transferred righty Luis Guerrero to the 60-day.