Tag: Baseball

Red Sox’ Enmanuel Valdez takes home International League Player of the Week honors

Red Sox infield prospect Enmanuel Valdez was named the International League Player of the Week for the week of August 29-September 4, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

In Triple-A Worcester’s last series against the Buffalo Bisons at Polar Park, Valdez appeared in all six games and went 10-for-24 (.417) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs, eight runs scored, one stolen base, three walks, and four strikeouts. He finished a single shy of the cycle on Sunday.

Since making his WooSox debut on Aug. 3, Valdez has batted .236/.325/.500 (114 wRC+) to go along with six doubles, one triple, seven homers, 27 runs driven in, 22 runs scored, two stolen bases, 15 walks, and 31 strikeouts over 28 games (127 plate appearances). Among those in the International League who have made at least 120 trips to the plate this season, the left-handed hitter ranks 51st in slugging percentage and 16th in isolated power (.264), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Valdez has seen playing time at three different positions in his time with the WooSox. After starting at second base on Sunday, the 5-foot-9, 191-pounder has logged 213 innings at second, 15 innings at third, and 17 innings in left field.

Valdez, 23, was originally signed by the Astros for $450,000 as an international free-agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in July 2015. The Red Sox acquired the San Juan de la Maguana native and fellow prospect Wilyer Abreu from Houston in exchange for catcher Christian Vazquez ahead of last month’s trade deadline.

Now, Valdez is regarded by Baseball America as the 16th-ranked prospect in Boston’s farm system. The publication describes him as “a bat-first infielder with a good combination of power and contact.” While there are some defensive concerns, he is “a tough out that grinds out at-bats, can hit for contact and punish mistakes.”

Valdez, who turns 24 in December, can become eligible for this winter’s Rule 5 Draft if he is not added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster by the November deadline. Unlike Eddinson Paulino, who has yet to play above Low-A, Valdez seems like more of a lock to be added given his experience and level of production at Triple-A.

“If he were going to get called up tomorrow, I think his ability to play [multiple] positions would be very valuable for a major-league clubhouse and a major-league bench,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said of Valdez in a recent conversation with The Athletic’s Chad Jennings. “He can play infield. He can play a corner (outfield) spot. And he can run into baseballs with power. So, I think the skillset lends itself really well to being an impactful major-league player. We’ve seen athleticism, and we’ve seen some areas that can be improved upon. I know our Triple-A staff already feel they’ve made some strides ins some of the smaller motor learning skills that he can improve upon while being in the infield, whether that be first-step quickness or the way he moves from left to right. And same thing in the outfield, some of the first step and quickness, I think he’s shown improvement on.”

“But, I think we’ve got a twitchy guy who has power, who drives the baseball, and the better he’s able to have an understanding of the strike zone and what he needs to do to consistently drive the baseball to all fields will allow him to be more impactful,” added Abraham. “But I think in a lot of ways he’s someone who’s incredibly unique, who can do all of those things (that profile well as a utility man) and still be someone who can play one position and play there for a consistent amount of time. I think that’s incredibly valuable these days. As we know, our Major League team has a bunch of those guys, our Triple-A team has a bunch of those guys. Getting yourself in the lineup to make an impact is really important.”

(Picture of Enmanuel Valdez: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Franchy Cordero suffers right ankle sprain, will undergo MRI on Tuesday

Red Sox left fielder Franchy Cordero sprained his right ankle in the fifth inning of Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

With one out and one runner on, Cordero attempted to track down a 358-foot fly ball off the bat of Randy Arozarena. He wound up running into the wall, however, as his right cleat got caught in the padding of the left field fence. That caused him to land awkwardly and hit the ground in pain.

After remaining on the warning track for a brief period, Cordero was visited by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and associate head athletic trainer Brandon Henry. Unable to put any weight on that right leg, Cordero was carted off the field and replaced in left by Rob Refsnyder.

While Cordero was initially diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, Cora provided an update after the game and revealed that the 28-year-old would be undergoing an MRI on Tuesday to ensure that there is no ligament damage.

“Franchy, he’s OK,” Cora said. “He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow to see if there’s ligament damage. We doubt it. But of course, we have to wait and see. He’s sore, of course, but we’ll wait and see for tomorrow.”

Both Cora and Cordero feared for the worst when contact was made with the wall. But Cordero seemed to be in better spirits despite being on crutches when explaining what went wrong on the play that ultimately resulted in an RBI double for Arozarena.

“I tried to field the ball and in this ballpark with the artificial grass you don’t feel the warning track, so you don’t know how close you are to the wall,” Cordero said through interpreter Carlos Villoria BenĂ­tez. “But so far the scans of everything have been negative. It’s just a sprained ankle.

“In the beginning, it felt really bad, but as I was coming to the clubhouse it was feeling better,” he added. “At first, I felt it was something worse than it was.”

As of now, it is not yet clear how much time Cordero — who went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts on Monday — will miss because of this ankle sprain. Tuesday’s MRI will likely provide the Red Sox with more information as well as a possible timetable.

(Picture of Franchy Cordero: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo homers and Michael Wacha deals, but Red Sox blow late lead in 4-3 loss to Rays

The Red Sox saw their five-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Rays on Monday night. Boston fell to Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field by a final score of 4-3 to drop to 67-69 on the season.

Alex Verdugo got the Sox on the board right away in the first inning. With one out and the bases empty, Verdugo clubbed a 368-foot solo shot to right field off Rays starter Luis Patino for his ninth home run of the year. It left his bat at a blistering 106.5 mph.

Michael Wacha, making his 18th start of the year for Boston, gave that run right back in the latter half of the first. Former Red Sox prospect Manuel Margot led off with a line-drive single. He then went from first to third on a David Peralta base hit and scored on a blooper of an RBI single from Harold Ramirez to tie things up at one run apiece.

That stalemate did not last long, though, as the Red Sox responded with two more runs in the third. With two outs and runners on first and second after Tommy Pham and Verdugo each drew a walk, Rafael Devers and Trevor Story went back-to-back on a pair of run-scoring hits. Devers advanced to third base on Story’s 22nd double of the year, but was stranded there after Triston Casas popped out to end the inning.

Wacha, meanwhile, settled in and spun three consecutive scoreless frames before running into some trouble in the fifth. After reaching base on a leadoff single, Jose Siri scored all the way from first on a 358-foot double off the bat of Randy Arozarena.

Franchy Cordero had been tracking that fly ball in left field, but he went down awkwardly after colliding with and getting his right cleat caught in the wall’s padding. Cordero remained on the ground in visible pain before manager Alex Cora and team trainers came out to check on him. Unable to put any weight on his right foot, Cordero was carted off and replaced in left field by Rob Refsnyder. He was later diagnosed with a right ankle sprain and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.

With Siri scoring on Arozarena’s double, Tampa Bay had cut the deficit down to one run at 3-2. But Wacha did not buckle and wound up retiring the final five batters he faced through the end of the sixth. The veteran right-hander gave up just the two runs on seven hits, zero walks, and seven strikeouts over six quality innings of work.

While Wacha did not factor into Monday’s decision, he did reach a personal milestone. By punching out Taylor Walls to end the sixth, the 31-year-old recorded the 1,000th strikeout of his major-league career.

In relief of Wacha, Jeurys Familia received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from Cora. With the likes of Garrett Whitlock and John Schreiber unavailable after a busy weekend, Familia struggled in a high-leverage spot in the seventh.

After a questionable hit-by-pitch of the pinch-hitting Vidal Brujan, who stole second base and moved up to third on a groundout, Familia surrendered a game-tying double to Margot. He was then pulled in favor of Zack Kelly, who got the second out of the inning but could not escape before allowing the go-ahead run to score on a Peralta RBI double down the right field line.

Kelly bounced back by tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning, giving the Red Sox a chance to tie it in the ninth. With two outs and Verdugo at second base representing the tying run, Xander Bogaerts got ahead in the count at 2-0 before striking out looking on a 99 mph heater at the bottom of the zone.

Despite coming up short there, Bogaerts made history by going 2-for-5, thus extending his multi-game hitting streak to nine consecutive games. He becomes the fourth player in Red Sox history to accomplish the feat, joining the likes of Kevin Youkilis (2009), Jim Rice (1978), and Roy Johnson (1934).

All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base as a team. With Monday’s loss, they are now 4-10 against the Rays this season and 18-37 against divisional opponents.

Next up: Hill vs. Rasmussen

The Red Sox will look to bounce back against the Rays on Tuesday night. Veteran left-hander Rich Hill will get the start for Boston while right-hander Drew Rasmussen will do the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Eddinson Paulino named Carolina League Player of the Week

Red Sox infield prospect Eddinson Paulino has been named the Carolina League Player of the Week for the week of August 29-September 4, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

In Low-A Salem’s last series on the road against the Augusta GreenJackets, Paulino went 8-for-20 (.400) with two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, four walks, and three strikeouts over five games. All three of those homers came within a two-game span on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2.

On the 2022 season as a whole, the left-handed hitter is slashing .265/.358/.469 to go along with 34 doubles, 10 triples, 13 home runs, 66 runs driven in, 94 runs scored, 27 stolen bases, 63 walks, and 27 strikeouts across 112 games (531 plate appearances) for Salem.

Among qualified Carolina League hitters, Paulino ranks 24th in walk rate (11.9%), 15th in strikeout rate (19.4%), 15th in swinging-strike rate (11%), 14th in batting average, 18th in on-base percentage, fifth in slugging percentage, sixth in OPS (.828), fifth in isolated power (.204), fourth in line-drive rate (25.6%), sixth in speed score (8.5), and sixth in wRC+ (127), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Paulino has proven to be a versatile weapon for Salem this season. After making his 11th start of the season in center field on Sunday, the 5-foot-10, 155 pounder has now logged 98 1/3 innings in center, eight innings in left field, 243 2/3 innings at second base, 275 innings at third base, and 301 innings at shortstop.

Paulino, 20, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 18 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The Red Sox originally signed the native Dominican for $205,000 as an international free-agent coming out of Santiago in July 2018.

Fast forward a little more than four years, and Paulino is now slated to become Rule 5 eligible for the first time in his career this winter. The Red Sox would need to add Paulino to their 40-man roster by the November deadline in order to protect him from December’s Rule 5 Draft.

In a recent conversation with The Athletic’s Chad Jennings, Boston’s director of player development Brian Abraham noted that these kinds of decisions are tougher to make since international players such as Paulino begin their careers much earlier than other prospects.

“Their clock starts a lot earlier and we’re having these conversations a lot sooner,” Abraham said. “I think you try to look at other players, and you’re always trying to compare where (other) guys were, body type physically, areas that we feel they can improve upon or have improved upon, vs. areas where we feel they might fall short. These decisions are always tough because there’s a limited number of spots.

“But I think, on our side (in player development), we are developing these players like they’re going to be with us for the long haul,” he added. “It’s always a balance in terms of the Rule 5, but some of the stuff with our staff and our coordinators and our (coaches), we’re not necessarily focused on that or worried about that. We’re just trying to get these guys ready for the next level.”

Barring a late-season promotion, Paulino is set to end the year in Salem. If he remains in the organization through the winter, he will likely break camp next spring with High-A Greenville.

(Picture of Eddinson Paulino: Gary Streiffer/Flickr)

Red Sox activate Zack Kelly from paternity list, option Josh Winckowski to Triple-A Worcester

Before opening a three-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday, the Red Sox activated reliever Zack Kelly from the paternity leave list. In a corresponding move, fellow right-hander Josh Winckowski was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, the club announced.

Kelly left the Red Sox on Friday to be with his wife, Brittany, at home in South Carolina. The couple welcomed their first child — a son named Kayden — on Saturday. Players can spend up to three days on paternity leave.

Boston originally called up Kelly from Triple-A Worcester last week. The 27-year-old former undrafted free-agent made his major-league debut against the Twins in Minnesota last Monday. He has since since allowed two earned runs on four hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over three relief appearances spanning three innings of work. That is good for an ERA of 6.00, but a much more respectable 2.45 FIP.

Winckowski, meanwhile, started in place of the injured Kutter Crawford in Sunday’s series finale against the Rangers at Fenway Park. The 24-year-old hurler allowed two earned runs on three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts over four innings of work.

Since making his big-league debut in late May, Winckowski has posted a 5.75 ERA and 5.08 FIP to go along with 41 strikeouts to 26 walks over 14 starts spanning 67 1/3 innings. He also owns a 3.83 ERA in 10 starts (47 innings) with the WooSox.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, this is the fourth time this season the Red Sox have optioned Winckowski to the minors. They can now only send him down one more time before they would need to expose him to waivers.

(Picture of Zack Kelly: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Kutter Crawford on 15-day injured list with right shoulder impingement

The Red Sox have placed right-hander Kutter Crawford on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement. In a corresponding move, fellow rookie righty was recalled from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced earlier Sunday morning.

Crawford was originally slated to start Sunday’s series finale against the Rangers at Fenway Park. He was instead scratched after experiencing shoulder soreness. The 26-year-old’s stint on the injured list is backdated to September 1, so he will first be eligible to return when the Red Sox open a three-game weekend series with the Royals on Sept. 16.

When speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) prior to Sunday’s 5-2 win over Texas, Red Sox manager Alex Cora expressed optimism that Crawford would only require the minimum 15 dats on the injured list.

Crawford, who last pitched in Minnesota on Tuesday, has posted a 5.47 ERA and 4.35 FIP with 77 strikeouts to 29 walks over 21 appearances (12 starts) spanning 77 1/3 innings of work for Boston this season. While there have been some impressive stretches, he has gotten tagged for 18 runs (17 earned) in his last three starts (12 2/3 innings) dating back to August 19. That is good for an ERA of 12.08.

With Crawford sidelined for the time being, Winckowski took his spot in the starting rotation on Sunday. The 24-year-old allowed two runs on three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts over four innings of work.

Both of those runs came right away in the top of the first, but Winckowski settled down and tossed three consecutive scoreless frames to end his day on a more positive note. He finished with a final pitch count of 82 (47 strikes) and lowered his ERA to 5.75, though he did not factor into the decision.

As it turns out, Winckowski’s latest big-league stint may be short-lived. As Cotillo reports, the Red Sox will need to clear a roster spot for reliever Zack Kelly, who was placed on the paternity leave list on Friday.

Kelly and his wife, Brittany, have since welcomed their first child. The 27-year-old is expected to re-join the Red Sox in St. Petersburg on Monday ahead of their upcoming series against the Rays.

That being said, it appears as though Winckowski will be optioned back to Worcester when Kelly is activated from the paternity leave list at some point on Monday. The Red Sox have three off days within the next two weeks, so they should be able to operate with a four-man starting rotation for the time being.

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Xander Bogaerts and Trevor Story lead the way as Red Sox finish off sweep of Rangers with 5-2 win; Triston Casas records first career hit in debut

The Red Sox completed their four-game sweep of the Rangers on Sunday afternoon. Boston defeated Texas by a final score of 5-2 at Fenway Park to extend its winning streak to five and improve to 67-68 on the season.

Josh Winckowski, starting in place of the injured Kutter Crawford, allowed two earned runs on three hits and three walks to go along with three strikeouts over four innings of work.

Both of those Rangers runs came right away in the top half of the first, as Winckowski began his day by issuing a four-pitch walk to Marcus Semien. The rookie right-hander then gave up a one-out single to Nathaniel Lowe, which put runners on the corners for Adolis Garcia, who ripped a run-scoring ground-rule double down the right field line. Jonah Heim followed by driving in Lowe with a groundout to give his side a 2-0 lead right out of the gate.

Despite that early deficit, the Red Sox lineup quickly responded in their half of the first. Matched up against Rangers righty Dane Dunning, Tommy Pham and Alex Verdugo both reached base on a pair of hard-hit singles before Xander Bogaerts came through with a ground-rule double of his own to cut Texas’ lead in half.

After Rafael Devers popped out into foul territory, Trevor Story took aim at the National Car Rental sign above the Green Monster for a 382-foot three-run blast. Story’s 16th home run of the season was accompanied by a bat flip and had an exit velocity of 101.9 mph. It also gave Boston its first lead of the day at 4-2.

An inning later, Connor Wong drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second base when Pham was hit by a pitch, and moved up to third on a Verdugo flyout. Bogaerts then drove him in with a sharply-hit opposite field single.

Winckowski, who had already retired the side in order in the top of the second, continued to settle into his outing by tossing two more scoreless innings. The 24-year-old hurler threw 82 pitches (47 strikes) and induced nine swings-and-misses while lowering his ERA on the season to 5.75.

In relief of Winckowski, Kaleb Ort received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Ort worked his way around a walk in the fifth and recorded the first two outs of the sixth before Wong threw out Leody Taveras at second base to end the inning.

Jeurys Familia and Matt Strahm each faced the minimum in the seventh and eighth, paving the way for John Schreiber to come on in the ninth. Schreiber, in turn, notched his second save in as many days by punching out two in a 1-2-3 inning. As a result, Ort was credited with the first winning decision of his big-league career.

Speaking of firsts, Triston Casas made his highly anticipated major-league debut on Sunday. The 22-year-old recorded his first career hit on an infield single in the fifth inning as part of a 1-for-4 day at the plate. He made solid contact on three separate occasions and provided stout defense at first base.

Story, meanwhile, provided some stellar defense of his own in the sixth inning. Playing in shallow right field as part of the shift, Story left his feet and made a fantastic leaping grab to rob Heim of a 107.7 mph line-drive single. On the other side of the ball, the 29-year-old finished a triple shy of the cycle and is now batting .464 (13-for-28) over his last seven games since returning from the injured list on August 27.

To the right of Story, Bogaerts went 3 for 4 with a double, two RBIs, and one run scored. He has now compiled eight straight multi-hit games to raise his batting average to an American League-leading .317.

Next up: On to St. Petersburg

Even on the heels of their first series sweep since late June, the Red Sox still trail the Blue Jays by 7 1/2 games for the third and final American League Wild Card spot. They will look to make up more ground in that race as they open a three-game series against the Rays in St. Petersburg on Monday.

Veteran right-hander Michael Wacha is slated to get the start for Boston in the series opener. Tampa Bay has yet to name a starter.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Trevor Story: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote top prospect Triston Casas, option Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox are planning to promote top prospect Triston Casas ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Rangers at Fenway Park, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. In a corresponding move, fellow first baseman Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester, reports The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

Casas, 22, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 28 prospect in all of baseball. The Red Sox originally selected the Miami-area native with the 26th overall selection in the 2018 amateur draft out of American Heritage High School (Plantation, Fla.). They swayed him away from his commitment to the University of Miami by signing him for roughly $2.553 million.

After making his professional debut in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, Casas spent the majority of 2019 with Low-A Greenville before earning a late-season promotion to High-A Salem. With the 2020 minor-league season being wiped out as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Casas was limited to working out at the Sox’ alternate training site that summer.

Last year, Casas received his first invite to major-league spring training. He later broke camp with Double-A Portland, but was limited to just 77 games with the Sea Dogs while being away on international duty and helping Team USA win a silver medal in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Upon returning from Japan, Casas closed out the 2021 campaign in Worcester and also represented the Red Sox in the Arizona Fall League. He and teammate Kole Cottam were both named AFL All-Stars. And while the lockout dominated this past off-season, Casas was able to remain in contact with the Red Sox since he is not yet on the 40-man roster.

On the heels of such a busy year, it appeared as though Casas would be able to settle in with the WooSox on a full-time basis in 2022. But he sustained a high right ankle sprain on May 17 and wound up being sidelined for nearly two months as a result.

Following a brief rehab assignment in Fort Myers, Casas returned to Worcester’s lineup on July 22. The left-handed hitter was slashing .296/.404/.504 (140 wRC+) with 11 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 16 RBIs, and 23 runs scored over his last 36 games. On the 2022 campaign as a whole, he is batting .273/.382/.481 (127 wRC+) with 20 doubles, one triple, 11 homers, 38 runs driven in, 45 runs scored, 46 walks, and 60 strikeouts across 72 games (317 plate appearances) for the WooSox.

Listed at a hulking 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Casas stands out both in the batter’s box and on the field. His hard-hit rates are to be reckoned with, as is his ability to play first base since he was recently identified by Baseball America as the best defensive first baseman in the International League.

Casas is slated to become the fifth player to make his major-league debut with the Red Sox this season, joining Josh Winckowski, Zack Kelly, Jeter Downs, and Brayan Bello, who is listed right ahead of Casas in Baseball America’s Red Sox prospects rankings.

While there will be plenty of buzz surrounding Casas’ debut, the Red Sox will first need to add the infielder to their 40-man roster. They can easily accomplish this by placing closer Tanner Houck, who will undergo season-ending back surgery next week, on the 60-day injured list.

From there, Boston can simply swap Dalbec for Casas, who figures to split time at first base with the right-handed hitting Christian Arroyo while Eric Hosmer remains on the injured list because of low back inflammation.

Dalbec, on the other hand, will head to Worcester, meaning this is the first time the 27-year-old has been optioned since he made his major-league debut for Boston in August 2020.

After ending 2021 on a strong note, Dalbec has struggled mightily on both sides of the ball this year. The right-handed hitter is batting just .211/.282/.362 (78 wRC+) with nine doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 36 RBIs, 38 runs scored, three stolen bases, 29 walks, and 113 strikeouts over 111 games (340 plate appearances). He has also posted negative-4 defensive runs saved across 635 innings at first base.

Although it took until the beginning of September, it seems as though Chaim Bloom, Alex Cora, and the rest of the Red Sox’ key decision makers were ready to send down Dalbec and see what Casas can do over the final few weeks of the regular season.

Because he is just being called up now, Casas — who turns 23 in January — will maintain his rookie status heading into next season. That is important when you consider the fact that, under MLB’s new collective bargaining agreement, the Red Sox could receive a compensatory draft pick if Casas makes the club’s 2023 Opening Day roster and finishes in the top three in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

(Picture of Triston Casas: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox closer Tanner Houck to undergo back surgery

Red Sox closer Tanner Houck will undergo back surgery on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora announced ahead of Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Rangers at Fenway Park.

Houck, who last pitched on August 2, will miss the remainder of the 2022 season. But he is expected to make a full recovery and subsequently be ready for spring training in February.

Boston originally placed Houck on the 15-day injured list with lower back inflammation on Aug. 6. The 26-year-old right-hander was later diagnosed with a disc issue in his lower back after being examined by a spine specialist in the city.

While the Red Sox elected to briefly shut down Houck, they were hopeful he would respond positively to treatment. That appeared to be the case when he resumed playing catch last week and was scheduled to throw live batting practice in Worcester on Tuesday. But that did not happen as scheduled, as Houck was completely shut down from baseball activities due to continued back soreness.

“It’s disc related,” Cora said (via MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) of Houck’s impending surgery. “He should be fine for spring training. Obviously we pushed it to pitch. But the strength is not back. He was almost there. But it didn’t work out. So everybody decided this is the best course of action and he should be OK.”

With his year now over, Houck has finished his third year in the big-leagues having posted a 3.15 ERA and 3.31 FIP with 56 strikeouts to 22 walks over 32 appearances (four starts) spanning 60 innings of work. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound hurler made all four of those starts in April before moving to the bullpen on a full-time basis on May 15.

From there, Houck ultimately assumed the role of Boston’s closer while pitching to a 1.49 ERA (3.18 FIP) to go along with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks across 25 relief outings (36 1/3 innings). He also converted eight of nine save opportunities.

“I thought he was solid,” Cora said. “Obviously as a starter, he did his thing. Then, we moved him to the bullpen and I think he was really good in the bullpen. The stuff is really good.”

Cora added that during the off-season, the Red Sox will sit down and talk about how to best utilize Houck and fellow righty Garrett Whitlock. The pair now have experience starting and closing out games at the major-league level, which is a valuable asset.

“We know they can do both,” said Cora. “Obviously that’s a bigger conversation to where we’re going to go and what we’re going to try to do in the off-season. But they can impact the game on either side — the first five innings or the last four innings. They’re that good. And Tanner, he’s done it as a starter and a reliever. He made some strides. I think he learned a lot about himself. He actually willed himself for a while there to be available, which is very important.”

Houck, who does not turn 27 until next June and is under club control through 2027, will likely be placed on the 60-day injured list. That would allow the Red Sox to create an opening on their 40-man roster for the impending promotion of Triston Casas.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Maddie Mayer/Getty Images)

Red Sox scratch Kutter Crawford from scheduled start on Sunday due to shoulder soreness

When the Red Sox go for a four-game sweep of the Rangers on Sunday afternoon, right-hander Kutter Crawford will not take the Fenway Park mound as originally planned.

Crawford has instead been scratched from his start due to shoulder soreness, manager Alex Cora said following Saturday’s 5-3 win over Texas. Boston has yet to announce who will start in his place on Sunday.

The shoulder soreness Crawford is currently experiencing stems from him playing catch on Friday. The decision to scratch the 26-year-old was made out of an abundance of caution, as the Red Sox will know more about his status later Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

“He wasn’t moving well today after he played catch yesterday so we’re not going to push him,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) while adding that a stint on the injured list is a possibility.

With Crawford unable to go on Sunday, fellow righty Josh Winckowski is a candidate to start in his place. The 24-year-old was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on August 24, but has since been added to the big-league club’s taxi squad.

Winckowski last pitched for the WooSox one week ago Sunday, allowing four earned runs on five hits, three walks, and four strikeouts over four innings against the Syracuse Mets. In 13 starts for Boston this season, the 6-foot-4, 202-pound hurler owns an ERA of 5.83.

Crawford, who last pitched for the Red Sox in Minnesota on Tuesday, has posted a 5.47 ERA and 4.35 FIP with 77 strikeouts to 29 walks over 21 appearances (12 starts) spanning 77 1/3 innings of work this season. He has been tagged for 18 runs (17 earned) in his last three starts (12 2/3 innings) dating back Aug. 19.

As Cotillo suggested, Winckowski will likely be called up from Worcester if Crawford does indeed require a stay on the injured list. If he does not, Boston could elect to go in the direction of a bullpen game for Sunday’s series finale.

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)