BOSTON — Thursday was Tanner Houck’s 27th birthday. Friday marked two weeks since he was hit in the face with a line drive by the Yankees’ Kyle Higashioka at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox have offered few updates on Houck’s status other than a note on Tuesday that he underwent successful surgery at Mass General Hospital for “open reduction and internal fixation of a right orbito-zygomatico-maxillary complex (OZMC) fracture.”
Say that three times fast.
One person who has more information than most on Houck, though is his best friend on the team: Garrett Whitlock.
So The Athletic sought out an update from Whitlock — with the caveat that Whitlock is not, by his own admission, a trained medical professional. But he is a good friend, and he listened closely to everything Houck said.
Houck described the surgery to Whitlock as inserting two tiny plates, one roughly an inch or so long to the side of his right eye, with a second, slightly larger plate, just under his eye on the cheekbone.
“It’s not like it (the plates) covers half his face,” said Whitlock, who saw a picture from Houck of what it would look like before the surgery.
Houck stayed at the hospital overnight Tuesday and was discharged Wednesday morning. He’s been resting at his apartment with his wife Abby.
