Boston

Red Sox

Tracy said that it was roughly 15-18 pitches, and Houck averaged around 92 mph on his fastball while touching 94 mph. We could see Houck begin a rehab assignment within the week, which could make him an option for the bullpen later this month.

The Red Sox are adapting Slaten’s throwing program to take those symptoms into account. Perhaps that means having Slaten abandon a pitch that is causing him particular trouble, but it’s never a great sign for a pitcher to be trying to adapt what they’re doing to compensate for lingering soreness. We’re less confident that the Red Sox can get key innings from Slaten down the stretch.

Burgos was up over the weekend as the 27th man in a doubleheader and will now come up to provide the Red Sox with depth out of their bullpen. The 27-year-old has a 5.84 ERA in 12 1/3 innings for the Red Sox this weekend.

We know that Rutschman is dealing with a hyperextended elbow, and Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said he will likely have to battle through that injury all season. Given how much the Red Sox traded away for Rutschman, this is not an ideal situation, but Tracy did reveal that the MRI showed swelling and bruising but no structural issues. Connor Wong will get yet another start behind the dish with Mickey Gasper at first base, but the Red Sox may want to see if Gasper can catch a few games given how well he’s swinging the bat.

It was a rough first MLB start for Paez on Tuesday, allowing eight runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Mariners. He did throw 63 percent of his pitches for strikes, including 86 percent on his curve, and his changeup posted a 17 percent swinging strike rate against lefties, but his fastball locations were not good, and he simply doesn’t throw hard enough to get by without solid location. There’s a chance he gets another spot start this season to keep Boston’s regular starters fresh for the playoffs.

This is now the second time Crochet has thrown off a mound as he inches closer to a return. The Red Sox have already said that he will not return to a starting role by the end of the regular season, given how much time he would need to ramp up. That also means Crochet could need less time on a rehab assignment because Boston may just want him to throw 2-3 innings at a time before the end of September. We still would be shocked to see him before the final week or two of the regular season.

Paez gave up runs each inning of his spot start in place of Sonny Gray and threw 87 pitches to get his 11 outs. He’ll almost surely head back to Triple-A on Wednesday.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said in a radio interview with WEEI 103.7 FM in Boston that Rutschman is dealing with a hyperextended elbow that he’ll have to manage for the remainder of the season. It’s a concerning development since the Red Sox don’t really have any in-house alternatives to compensate from his absence. It’ll be Connor Wong behind the plate for the second straight game.

Guerrero allowed three runs in one-third of an inning last night while pitching for the third time in four days. He’s been a key piece of Boston’s pen, so hopefully, a little break here will get him right for the final 7-10 days and the postseason.

In his first major league stint, Olds allowed three unearned runs over six innings for Boston before being sent down Saturday. He’s back now as a result of Tyron Guerrero going on the IL.