Houck joining Sox, ready 'to compete'

July 15th, 2021

NEW YORK -- Jarren Duran isn’t the only big-name Red Sox prospect who joined the club for this weekend's series in New York.

Righty -- the club’s No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- will also be activated for the latest series between the longtime rivals.

With Thursday’s game getting postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Yankees organization, the Red Sox will wait another day to make the roster move official.

Prior to the postponement, the Sox were scheduled to play 18 consecutive days coming out of the All-Star break.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that Houck will be available out of the bullpen for this weekend’s series at Yankee Stadium.

The original plan was for Houck to start Wednesday’s game in Buffalo, N.Y., against the Blue Jays, but that might be pushed back given that the opener in New York was postponed.

“Tough stretch here. Lot of games,” Cora said. “We feel like we have to take care of our guys. Adding somebody like him in certain spots can help us. We’ll do that.”

Houck was called up at the end of last season and flourished, going 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA. He made three appearances for the Red Sox earlier this season, including two starts, going 0-2 with a 4.35 ERA.

“In terms of what I want to get out of it, it’s just continuing to grow as a pitcher and just face these elite lineups,” Houck said. “Obviously, every time you go out there, you want to compete. That’s what my goals are going into this. Whatever role I’m thrown into, just go out there, compete and just give what I can to this team.

“It’s an amazing team with a bunch of amazing people on it, so I don’t want to take anything away from that. I just want to give everything I can to this team and just compete in ballgames.”

Houck missed six weeks for Triple-A Worcester this season as he battled back from a strained flexor muscle in his right arm. Since coming back, Houck has made five appearances of four innings or shorter.

“In terms of the rehab, I feel like I came back stronger,” Houck added. “It was a little hiccup in the road. I took the time, took advantage of it in the best way I could in terms of developing the strength side of things as well as the development of the pitching side.

“I had a little bit of downtime there, where in the bullpens coming back from it I could really sit there and focus on individual things -- kind of like last year with the alt site. It was, like I said, just a little hiccup in the road, back now feeling stronger and better than ever. I’m excited to go back out there.”

It is unclear what the corresponding roster move will be to add Houck. Austin Brice is one candidate to come off the roster.

The Red Sox drafted Houck out of Missouri -- a recent hotbed for Major League starting pitchers -- with the 24th overall pick in the 2017 Draft.