The Boston Red Sox made several roster moves ahead of Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Chicago Cubs at Tropicana Field, including activating right-handed starter Tanner Houck from the 60-day injured list. On Sunday afternoon, Houck will make his first start since May 12, 2025, after an elbow injury resulted in Tommy John surgery, which was performed in August 2025. 

Here's what you should expect to see from Houck: 

The 30-year-old right-hander made four rehab appearances with Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester in the waning weeks of the minor league season. As expected, Houck struggled with command in his first appearance, allowing two earned runs on two walks in just 0.2 innings. 

However, he settled down nicely in his final three appearances, allowing only two earned runs on three hits while striking out nine and walking two, stretching out to 48 pitches. Combined, Houck posted a 3.30 ERA over eight innings. 

Over his big-league career, Boston has seen both the best and worst of Houck on the mound. His best season came in 2024, when he was undoubtedly the ace of the Red Sox pitching staff, posting a 3.12 ERA over 178.2 innings, earning the first All-Star selection of his career. 

However, in a limited sample in 2025, Houck was among the worst starters in baseball, posting an 8.09 ERA in 43.2 innings, including two blow-up starts in which he allowed 11 earned runs in 2.1 innings. During his brief 2025 season, Houck ranked among the bottom two out of 86 qualified pitchers in baseball in ERA (86th), home runs allowed per nine innings (2.06, 85th), opponent batting average (.315, 86th), and fWAR (-0.4, 86th). 

Houck was very open about how badly he wanted to rejoin the Boston pitching staff in a "Swiss Army knife" role as a single- or multi-inning reliever. However, after his final rehab appearance with Worcester on Sept. 19, the team chose to send him to Ft. Myers with the rest of the postseason taxi squad rather than activate him. 

Houck has proved himself as a more-than-capable reliever in the early stages of his career. In 33 appearances in relief, he posted a 2.68 ERA across 53 innings of work, holding batters to just a .206 batting average. In 12 appearances in a save situation, he's allowed only three earned runs on nine hits across 16 innings pitched, locking down nine career saves. 

With hard-throwing reliever Tyron Guerrero landing on the injured list on Sunday afternoon, Boston now has a glaring need for a high-leverage reliever in the back end of its bullpen. Sunday could be Houck's chance to stake his claim for that role. 

Houck will likely be on a 40-50 pitch count as he returns to a big-league mound as the Red Sox go for a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in Sunday's series finale. Left-hander Shota Imanaga (11-10, 3.74 ERA) will get the start for Chicago. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. ET.