Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck is helped off the field after he was struck by a line drive Friday night against the Yankees. Houck is on the 15-day injured list. Winslow Townson/Associated Press
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox placed Tanner Houck on the 15-day injured list Sunday. Houck suffered a facial fracture when he was struck in the right cheek by an 89.7 mph batted ball in the fifth inning Friday while pitching against the Yankees.
The Red Sox don’t know yet how they will replace Houck in the starting rotation.
“We’re going to push everybody back for the Minnesota series,” Manager Alex Cora said. “We’ll see what we do on Thursday.”
Brayan Bello, who was scheduled to pitch Saturday, will start the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Saturday’s game was rained out.
James Paxton, who was scheduled to start Sunday, will pitch in Minnesota on Monday,
Kutter Crawford will pitch Tuesday and Garrett Whitlock will start Wednesday vs. the Twins. The Red Sox will need a starter for Thursday.
Crawford has taken Chris Sale’s spot in the starting rotation. Sale is on the 60-day injured list because of a stress reaction in the scapula bone (shoulder blade).
The Red Sox demoted Nick Pivetta and Corey Kluber to the bullpen last month. They are both potential options on the 26-man roster to fill Houck’s spot. Pivetta pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.
Cora said the Red Sox need to reevaluate whether everyone fits the team best in the bullpen or rotation.
“It all depends what we want to do. Especially with Kutter,” Cora said. “Is it good for the 26-(man roster) for Pivetta to start, and then what (do) we do in the bullpen? So those are conversations we’re going to have. And we’ll decide what we do later on.”
Left-handed prospect Brandon Walter seems like an unlikely option on the 40-man roster. He has struggled at Triple-A Worcester this season with a 6.28 ERA in 13 outings (12 starts). Opponents are batting .300 against him.
Potential non 40-man roster options include prospect Shane Drohan and MLB journeyman Jake Faria.
Drohan dominated at Double-A Portland to begin the season. But he has struggled since his promotion to Worcester (5.34 ERA, six starts). Drohan has held opponents to a .235 batting average but has walked 20 batters in 30 1/3 innings at Triple A. Like Walter, he could use more development before pitching in the big leagues.
Faria, a 29-year-old righty, has made 72 big league appearances, including 29 starts. He has a 4.32 ERA in his 29 starts, compared to a 5.73 ERA in 43 relief outings.
Faria started for Worcester on Sunday, and so he wouldn’t be on regular rest Thursday. He has a 5.93 ERA in his six starts for the WooSox.
Brendan Nail, a 27-year-old lefty who has never pitched in the big leagues, is 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA in 17 outings (five starts) for Worcester. He hasn’t gone more than 3 2/3 innings in any of his games.
Chris Murphy, who is on the 40-man roster, began this season in Worcester’s starting rotation. But the Red Sox recently moved him to the bullpen and view him as a reliever moving forward.
PROMOTION: Portland Sea Dogs reliever Ryan Fernandez was promoted to Triple-A Worcester and pitched a scoreless inning Sunday for the WooSox.
Fernandez, a 25-year-old right-hander, was 2-1 with one save and a 1.77 ERA in 14 appearances this season for the Sea Dogs. He struck out 26 in 20 1/3 innings, and hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 19.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
