Houck allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six over 4.1 scoreless innings in Monday's spring game against Atlanta.
Houck, who was optioned to minor-league camp two weeks ago, may have been motivated by the news that he could open the regular season in Boston's rotation. He's had encouraging outings, like Monday's, along with a pair of walk-fests in which he permitted nine free passes in 3.1 innings. Those command issues led to his demotion, but circumstances have changed for the young right-hander. Eduardo Rodriguez's dead arm scratched him from an Opening Day nod while projected starter Garrett Richards and swingman Matt Andriese were quarantining. Now that Matt Barnes' positive result for COVID has been deemed a false positive, both Richards and Andriese are back with the team. If Richards is ready to go for his projected start Saturday, the possibility exists that Houck could take Rodriguez's first turn through the rotation.