Houck starts comeback from facial fracture

Tanner Houck ate his first solid meal in weeks Thursday, ordering Uber Eats for breakfast after a morning doctor’s appointment.

The Red Sox pitcher had been on a liquid and puréed diet since he suffered a facial fracture when a line drive hit him in the right cheek. He underwent surgery to insert a plate into his face June 27.

“It’s definitely [the] weirdest injury I think I’ve ever had,” Houck said Saturday, his first time speaking to reporters since the injury.

The righthander will throw for the first time since the injury Tuesday and said it would be at least two weeks from then until he stepped on a mound.

The Sox haven’t decided what Houck’s role will be when he returns. He has been a starter this year after toggling between the rotation and the bullpen in the previous two seasons. In 13 starts this season, Houck posted a 5.05 ERA. But he was in the middle of backto-back productive starts, allowing just three runs in his last 10 innings when the injury happened.

“The rest of my body feels great,” Houck said. “I feel like I could be out there tomorrow.”

The 27-year-old said he considers himself very lucky that the ball hit him where it did and said that he isn’t worried about the injury changing his approach as a pitcher.

“I look at it as part of the game,’' he said. “Injuries and unfortunate events are going to happen. We’re standing 60 feet 6 inches away and stuff like this is going to happen. It’s about how you bounce back, come back better, stronger, and continue to put it behind me.” Schreiber eyeing return

Reliever John Schreiber, fresh off the first rehab appearance in his career, said he felt good after pitching twothirds of an inning for Triple A Worcester Friday as he continues his recovery from a right teres major strain.

“My body’s been recovering really well. Feeling like it’s normal self,” said Schreiber, 29, who’s been on the injured list since May 16.

Schreiber has been one of the Sox’ most reliable relievers over the past two years. The righthander posted a 2.22 ERA in 65 innings last season and continued that success this year before the injury with a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings.

He threw nine of his 16 pitches for strikes Friday and will make another rehab appearance Sunday before the AllStar break. The target he has set for making a return is the Red Sox‘ series against the Mets, which starts July 21 at Fenway Park.

Schreiber’s return would give the Red Sox a triumvirate of high-leverage righty relievers along with Chris Martin, who has a 1.63 ERA, and Kenley Jansen, an All-Star with 18 saves and a 3.34 ERA.

“Schreiber was throwing the ball outstanding when he got banged up,” manager Alex Cora said before a 10-3 win over the A’s at Fenway. “Looking forward to [having] the three of them.” Rodriguez reinstated

The Sox reinstated Joely Rodriguez

from the injured list and optioned fellow reliever Justin Garza to Worcester.

Rodriguez has pitched just four innings because of shoulder inflammation and has an ERA of 18.00. He had a 4.47 mark in 50‚ innings last year with the Mets. He is the fifth lefthander in the bullpen, joining Brennan Bernardino, Joe Jacques, Chris Murphy, and Brandon Walter.

“We know what he can do,” Cora said of Rodriguez. “Stuff-wise, obviously not there yet as far as [velocity]. But it’s a good sinker, it’s a good changeup, it’s a good slider, so we’ll find a spot and use him in certain situations.”

Rodriguez’s velocity has dipped in recent seasons. In 2021, he threw his sinker at 94.1 miles per hour. Last year, it dipped to 92.7 m.p.h. The drop continued in a limited sample this year, to just 90.8 m.p.h. on 53 sinkers per Baseball Savant.

Garza had a 6.11 ERA in 17„ innings.

Pitching plan in place

In their first four games after the AllStar break, the Red Sox are set to start Brayan Bello, James Paxton, and Kutter Crawford before going to a bullpen game . . . Oakland scratched its Saturday starter, Paul Blackburn, because of an illness. Reliever Austin Pruitt took Blackburn’s place . . . On Sunday, reliever Tayler Scott will start for the Sox opposite JP Sears for the A’s.