Pitcher Tanner Houck missed the Red Sox recent trip to Canada because he is unvaccinated against COVID-19. Steven Senne/Associated Press
Tanner Houck is done talking about his vaccination status. After missing the Red Sox’ four-game series in Toronto because he’s unvaccinated against COVID-19, he returned to the team Friday in Baltimore in no mood to keep talking about the situation.
“I kept up watching the games,” said Houck, who along with Kutter Crawford, spent four days in Fort Myers while on the restricted list. “That’s all I’m really going to say on it, though.”
Houck then repeated a similar answer a handful of times, including when asked if missing games would make him re-consider his stance on vaccination. He has not gone into details publicly about the situation other than to call it a “personal decision.”
Houck’s absence has been a major storyline outside the walls of the Red Sox clubhouse in the last week. With the team floundering to a 1-3 showing in Toronto, it was easy to see how Houck’s presence might have helped. Missing one of the team’s most talented pitchers caused Manager Alex Cora to have to re-shuffle some things, taking Garrett Whitlock out of the bullpen to make two starts. But Cora insists the absences of Houck and Crawford have not caused any awkwardness in the clubhouse, where every other active player is vaccinated against COVID-19.
“It’s something that is a non-topic in the clubhouse… Nothing is going to change. Obviously, the topic will come up again whenever we go to up there to Canada,” Cora said. “We’ll see where we’re at and we’ll make adjustments if we have to make adjustments.
Cora said that Houck’s situation was just one factor in Boston’s decision to temporarily shift Whitlock to the rotation to pitch twice on the road trip. Rich Hill was pushed back a day after going on the bereavement list following the passing of his father, Lloyd, which led to more shuffling.
“It wasn’t just about (Houck and Crawford),” Cora said. “There was more stuff that came in the last few days and we had to make adjustments. To put it on somebody that we didn’t win because of this or that, no. We didn’t make plays, we didn’t make pitches and we got beat.”
The vaccination issue will come up again for the Red Sox this season because they will play two more series in Toronto (from June 27-30 and again from Sept. 30-Oct. 2). Unless government rules change, Houck, Crawford and any other unvaccinated players (a list that includes the injured Chris Sale, and, potentially, at least one other player currently on the injured list) will be ineligible to pitch north of the border. That would be particularly costly to the Red Sox if they were to face the Blue Jays in a playoff series.
Cora has repeatedly said that he respects players’ individual decisions on vaccination but the organization has tried, with varying levels of success, to convince all players to get their shots. A handful of players who were unvaccinated at the end of last season got vaccinated during the offseason or spring training, including Xander Bogaerts, Christian Arroyo, Kevin Plawecki and Trevor Story (as a condition of the Red Sox signing him).
ANGELS TWO-WAY STAR Shohei Ohtani is expected to pitch vs. the Boston Red Sox this coming week.
The Los Angeles Angels play three games at Fenway Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Ohtani is tentatively scheduled to start Tuesday’s game but he could be pushed back to Wednesday or Thursday because of multiple factors.
It will be Ohtani’s first start on the mound at Fenway Park.
The righty has a 4.19 ERA, 2.12 FIP and 1.09 WHIP in four starts this season. He has struck out 37.5% of the batters he has faced (30 strikeouts, 80 batters faced). He’s averaging 14.0 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings.
As Angels beat writer Jeff Fletcher of Southern California News Group told MassLive.com, Noah Syndergaard (illness) was scratched Friday and could be reinserted into the starting rotation in the coming days.
Fletcher also pointed out the Angels could be rained out today (Saturday) in Chicago vs. the White Sox, then play a doubleheader Sunday.
So there are multiple factors in play but Ohtani is expected to pitch one of the three days in Boston.
Ohtani has made two starts against the Red Sox in Anaheim. He is 1-1 against them and has allowed five runs in 9 innings.
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