Tanner Houck to capitalize on being a starter
One of the most talked about guys this offseason was Tanner Houck. From all the different trade rumors to what his role would even be on this year’s team. Houck has pitched well in every single role the Red Sox have put him in, which includes being in a starter role. The starting rotation is where Tanner Houck belongs on this year’s Red Sox team. Not only does he belong in the starting rotation, Houck is one of the most consistent pitchers on the roster.
The Red Sox Winter Weekend wrapped up over the weekend, with Houck, again, being a large component of it. So many questions about his health, his role on the team, or if he was even thinking about the rumors floating around the internet these days. He pretty much confirmed the reports of coming into camp as a starter on multiple occasions, which Chris Cotillo of MassLive spoke with Red Sox General Manager Brian O’Halloran earlier this month about and was told Houck would be to get stretched out under the assumption he would be a starter.
Houck was a three year starter at the University of Missouri. Over his tenure at Mizzou, Houck pitched in 44 games and started every single one of them. He carried a career 3.26 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. We recently had a former teammate of Houck at Mizzou, Josh Lester, who is currently on the Baltimore Orioles, on the Roundin’ Third Podcast, and he spoke a bit about being teammates with Houck:
“If I’m facing off against Tanner this season, I can’t let him get me out. I remember facing him in the fall in 2015, and I didn’t really pay attention to which freshmen we were getting on the team since I was a Junior then. I remember facing him and was like, that’s pretty dang good…”
Lester continued,” I remembered turning to the hitting coach and saying, is this kid supposed to be good? Then he goes out as a freshman that year and was probably our best pitcher, which the staff that year had two other big leaguers in Reggie McClain and Pete Fairbanks.”
That success transitioned quite smoothly after the Red Sox took him in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft. In four seasons in the minors, Houck started in 56 games and struck out 269 batters in 270 innings pitched. The majors have carried the same success as the lower levels and college, as he carries a 10.4 K/9 in his 20 major league starts. The strikeout numbers are higher as a starter, as well as his career WHIP.
The Red Sox rotation comes into the season with a ton of question marks in the starting roles on the team. Starting with the obvious, Chris Sale and James Paxton are two guys who have not pitched much due to injury the past couple seasons. Garrett Whitlock has only pitched over 100 innings once in his career, college included. Nick Pivetta has struggled with consistency over his career. Brayan Bello is entering his first full year in the MLB. You get the point.
Tanner Houck certainly has his flaws, but the consistency he has shown over his career should make him a staple in the starting rotation. He is a guy who throws more strikes than balls, and has shown that he can get tough outs when needed. On top of that, he was a winner of PitchingNinja’s slider of the year. A page that he was a regular on almost all of the 2022 season.
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