“We were waiting for Tanner (Houck) to see how he felt after his start,” Cora said. “We’re going to make a change, actually Tanner is going to start on Sunday and Corey is going to go to the bullpen starting on Friday.

“We had that conversation with Corey, very professional, he understands. He signed here to be a starter, but right now he’s struggling and obviously the kids are throwing the ball well, there are a lot of off days coming up. So, we decided to make a change. We were just waiting for Tanner to see how he felt after his start.”

Kluber’s run with Boston has been a mess so far. He’s been hit hard by teams, resulting in a 2-6 record with a 6.26 ERA. The 37-year-old hasn’t pitched in relief during the regular season since 2013, but he did appear out of the bullpen once last postseason with Tampa.

The Red Sox made a move to add to their starting rotation.

Boston on Wednesday agreed to a one-year deal with Corey Kluber, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported. The contract also includes a club option for the 2024 season and has a $10 million guarantee for 2023.

While Kluber certainly isn’t the same pitcher he was when he won two Cy Young Awards while in Cleveland, he will be able to eat innings for the Red Sox, which they’ll need after Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill departed the organization.

Kluber, a member of the Tampa Bay Rays last season, went 10-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 164 innings pitched. While those numbers aren’t the most attractive, he did strike out 139 batters and walked just 21.