Houck will not make the trip to Toronto for next week's three-game series against the Blue Jays due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. The series runs from Monday to Wednesday.

EDGE Analysis

Houck has evolved into the role as Boston's closer, but manager Alex Cora will have to get creative if the Red Sox need a save during the series. The right-hander opened the season as part of Boston's rotation but was moved to the bullpen, ironically, after he didn't make the team's first trip to Canada in April. Since then, Houck has been a Swiss army knife out of the bullpen and eventually settled in as the best ninth-inning option.