Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck told the Boston Globe is has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and therefore he is ineligible to pitch when the team travels to Canada later this month. Charles Krupa/Associated Press
BOSTON — Red Sox starter Tanner Houck is not vaccinated against COVID-19, he told Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe on Sunday. As a result, Houck will not be eligible to pitch in Toronto when the Red Sox go there later this month. He will miss his scheduled start against the Blue Jays on April 26.
“I think it’s a personal choice for everyone whether they get it or not,” Houck told the Globe. “So, that’s all I really got to say on it.”
All travelers to Canada must be vaccinated against COVID-19, so any unvaccinated players are not eligible to play road games in Toronto this season. Houck is the second Red Sox starter known to be unvaccinated, joining lefty Chris Sale. Sale is on the injured list due to a stress fracture in his rib cage so he wasn’t going to pitch in the April 25-28 Toronto series anyway. Unless he gets vaccinated (or the government changes the rules), Sale, like Houck, will not be eligible to pitch against the Blue Jays from June 27-29 or Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
During the series in Toronto, Houck will be placed on the restricted list and won’t receive pay or service time. The Red Sox can replace him on the roster for those four games. It’s unclear who will take Houck’s turn in the rotation on April 26; Garrett Whitlock is a candidate for a spot start after relieving Houck in Saturday’s win.
Multiple previously unvaccinated Red Sox players, including infielders Xander Bogaerts and Christian Arroyo and catcher Kevin Plawecki, said during spring training that they had either gotten their shots or were planning to do so before the first Toronto trip. It’s unknown if Houck will be the only player who is placed on the restricted list but the majority of Boston’s key players are vaccinated and will be allowed to play north of the border.
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TWINS: Minnesota placed right-hander Sonny Gray on the 10-day injured list with a low grade strained hamstring a day after he left his start.
To take his place on the roster, the team activated right-hander Cody Stashak, who was on the IL with right biceps tendinitis.
Manager Rocco Baldelli said before the game that he doesn’t think Gray will miss more than one start.
Gray (0-1) allowed a homer to Alex Verdugo in the second inning before being pulled two batters later with right hamstring tightness in Minnesota’s 4-0 loss to Boston on Saturday. The 32-year-old was acquired from Cincinnati in a trade last month.
BLUE JAYS: Toronto added left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu to the 10-day injured list with left forearm inflammation.
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The 35-year-old Ryu was pulled after just four innings in Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. He lasted less than that in his first start of the season April 10, when he allowed six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings in a 12-6 loss to Texas.
Ryu, who won 14 games for the Blue Jays last season, is in the third year of a $80-million, four-year contract with Toronto.
• Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez has been diagnosed with cancer and will be stepping away from the broadcast booth.
Martinez said in a statement released by Sportsnet that Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics would be his last for “a little while” as he begins weeks of cancer treatment.
“I’m grateful for a tremendous medical team, who has given me great optimism that I will come through this with flying colors,” Martinez said. “I hope to rejoin my Sportsnet teammates for the stretch run later this season, but in the mean time I will be watching from the sidelines as I fight the good fight.”
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Martinez has been associated with the Blue Jays since 1981, when he began a six-year stint as one of the team’s catchers. He played 17 big league seasons in Toronto, Kansas City and Milwaukee.
ORIOLES: Baltimore transferred left-hander John Means to the 60-day injured list with a sprained elbow.
The move wasn’t a huge surprise after manager Brandon Hyde conceded the previous day that it would be a while before Means pitched again. Hyde said then that the 28-year-old lefty – who threw a no-hitter less than a year ago – was seeking second opinions about his injury.
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