Red Sox: Tanner Houck’s next scheduled start date is unclear

When will Tanner Houck start again for the Boston Red Sox?

The Boston Red Sox have revealed their starting pitchers for this weekend’s series in Baltimore, which surprisingly does not include Tanner Houck.

According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, Rich Hill will open the three-game series against the Orioles on Friday, followed by Nathan Eovaldi and Nick Pivetta.

The unvaccinated Houck skipped his last start after being placed on the restricted list since he was ineligible to join the team in Toronto. His last appearance was on Sunday in Tampa Bay when he threw 15 pitches over 1 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays. Houck should be plenty rested to rejoin the rotation when the Red Sox return from Canada for tomorrow’s game but the team has pivoted toward keeping the other starters on their regular schedule instead.

MLB.com’s website has been updated to reflect the revised pitching alignment. The Red Sox have an off day on Monday before returning home to host the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game series beginning on May 3. The Red Sox haven’t announced a starter for that game yet but it presumably will be Houck, allowing him to slide back into the No. 3 spot in the rotation behind Pivetta.

MLB.com’s Ian Browne reports that Houck will piggyback Hill in Baltimore on Friday night. The Red Sox planned to use Garrett Whitlock in relief for games that Hill starts this season but that plan was temporarily scrapped when Whitlock was needed in the rotation. Houck will be used in that role tomorrow night and if his pitch count remains reasonable, he would still be ready to start Tuesday after three full days of rest.

There’s also the possibility that the Red Sox could leave Whitlock in the rotation instead of inserting Houck back into that spot. Whitlock allowed only one hit over four shutout innings in his first career start last weekend in Tampa Bay.

His dominance in a versatile reliever role has been the key to the Red Sox bullpen and we’ve seen how shaky Boston’s late-inning relief has been since Whitlock was moved to the rotation. Boston would have more confidence in their ability to hold a lead if Whitlock was lurking in the bullpen but the potential for the right-hander to emerge as an excellent starting pitcher might tempt them to give him a longer look in the rotation.

Locking Whitlock into a rotation spot would push Houck to the bullpen where he could take over the role as the multi-inning reliever who can handle high-leverage spots. We’ve seen Houck succeed in that role before and his addition to the bullpen would help offset the loss of Whitlock if he’s sticking in the rotation.

How Whitlock performs in the series finale against the Blue Jays this afternoon could go a long way toward determining if the Red Sox decide to leave him as a starter for the foreseeable future. If he shuts down a loaded Toronto lineup, it’s going to be difficult for manager Alex Cora to justify sending him back to the bullpen.

In the meantime, Boston is being coy about their rotation plans beyond this weekend, perhaps to buy themselves time to make a decision. We can expect to see Houck on the mound in Baltimore when he relieves Hill but when he will make another start for the Red Sox remains a mystery.