Red Sox manager says injured starting pitcher underwent MRI on Thursday

Tanner Houck clearly wasn t right The Red Sox right-hander gave up runs in innings to the Detroit Tigers on Monday and the following day the pitcher could right away tell he wasn t recovering like he normally does after a start Houck was subsequently placed on the -day injured list with a right flexor pronator strain but Red Sox manager Alex Cora commented Friday that the pitcher doesn t appear to be looking at a important injury I don t know how long he s going to be out he had an MRI the day prior no structural damage so that s good Cora reported He s getting cure just getting the inflammation out and get him feeling better At the same time work on a minimal things go to the lab and take a look at it and see what s going on as far as the delivery and the action on his pitches and all that and hopefully when he comes back from the IL he s ready to go After earning his first career All-Star nod last season Houck has endured a terrible start to the new year The -year-old struggled in spring training and has posted an ERA through his first nine starts allowing earned runs through innings He right now leads the American League in hits earned runs and hit batsmen allowed with a big portion of the damage coming in two catastrophic starts In addition to Monday s debacle Houck also allowed runs earned runs in innings on April against the Tampa Bay Rays Cora explained that Houck has dealt with soreness on and off throughout the season but that this time was significantly worse Cora also provided a number of other injury updates Right-hander Walker Buehler right shoulder bursitis threw a bullpen on Thursday to infielders Romy Gonzalez and David Hamilton along with an unspecified contestant from Boston College It went well let s see how he recovers in the present day and in the next 24 hours and if everything goes well there s a good chance he pitches Tuesday against the Mets Cora mentioned Gonzalez left quad contusion is progressing well and is expected to return by early next week Right-hander Richard Fitts right pectoral strain is at this moment away from the band attending to a family matter but Cora declared he threw a bullpen at home and could begin a rehab assignment late next week Burdi called up Prior to Friday s battle the Red Sox called up right-hander Nick Burdi to help fortify the bullpen To clear space on the roster the club optioned right-hander Cooper Criswell to Triple-A and placed right-hander Kutter Crawford on the -day IL The -year-old has appeared in five MLB seasons greater part in the last few days with the Yankees last season Burdi presently boasts a ERA with strikeouts in innings with Triple-A Worcester and has consistently worked in the mid-to-high s with his fastball He s throwing strikes and he s throwing hard Cora stated I think having another arm in the bullpen that we can use early in the championship for a right-handed pocket will be good