As the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox, Tanner Houck knows more than any of his teammates how different and special the season they’re putting together feels.

The right-hander has been with the Red Sox since his September 2020 debut. He’s pitched in the rotation, in long relief, and closed games. In his first five years as a big-leaguer, the Red Sox have made it to the playoffs once since he came along (‘21), finished with losing records thrice, and eked out a .500 mark (‘24).

Now, when they’re making their best playoff push since ‘21, he’s stuck on the sidelines. Houck hasn’t pitched since May 12. On Saturday, manager Alex Cora announced that the righty will undergo Tommy John surgery, not only ending this season but taking him out of the equation for most, if not all of next year.

“It sucks,” the affable righty said as he stood in the clubhouse Sunday morning. “It’s a fun team to watch, it’s a fun team to be around, and just knowing I’m not going to be a part of it for the rest of the year, it’s hard. But I know I’ll bounce back better from this.”

When Houck initially went on the injured list with a flexor strain, the MRI showed a “good amount of inflammation.” He struggled on his rehab assignment and was honest with the Red Sox about feeling like something was off. Around the end of the All-Star break, a second MRI yielded “significantly worse” results. The Red Sox returned him to the injured list.

“It showed it got worse, definitely,” Houck said of the second MRI. “The flexor was torn a good bit, but just didn’t feel right throwing, didn’t feel normal, kind of the way that I operate, at a high would-be volume. Just never really felt like it got back to normal.”

Houck said he could have gone the PRP injection or stem-cell route, but the doctors suggested they would only be “delaying the inevitable.”

“Got a few second opinions, and ultimately this is a decision that I made just for the longevity of the career,” he explained. “I want to pitch for another 10 years, 10-plus years, and looking at a longevity standpoint this is the road that we decided to take.”

As disappointed as Houck is, he plans to stay around the team. He said he was inspired by how fellow pitchers Garrett Whitlock and Lucas Giolito have bounced back this year after both undergoing elbow surgeries in the spring of ‘24.

“What they’ve done this year, it’s incredible,” Houck said. “So it’s just about trusting day-to-day work. It’s gonna be long, it’s gonna be hard, but I’m ready for it. I’ve made peace with it myself.”

It’s not the first time Houck has overcome a painful setback. He knows what he needs to do, and where and how he wants to do it.

“Two years ago, I was recovering from getting hit in the face, a year ago I was at the All-Star Game, and now this year, going under the knife again, unfortunately,” he said. “Just a matter of time of putting pieces back together, coming back stronger, and just getting back out there.

“I mean, I’ll still be around the rest of the year this year, I plan on being around next year, cheering these guys on… I just want to be a part of it, want to be around it.”