Cora keeping Houck a starter
Young Sox righty throwing gas early on in spring training
The Red Sox won’t be messing around with Tanner Houck by putting him in the bullpen to start the season.
The exciting 24-year-old right-hander made his debut as a starter last season, and it’s going to stay that way.
“I think we’ve been through that road as an organization, right?” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday. “For the last 15 years. We’re considering him as a starter.”
That may not come off as much of a surprise for a pitcher who’s naturally a starter, but it’s music to Houck’s ears.
“For me, I love hearing that,” Houck said. “I love starting. I love getting that ball every fifth day, and for me, I’ve started my entire life. … I love hearing that. I truly love starting, and I plan on doing it for a long time.”
But he might have to wait a bit before doing it again.
Houck burst on to the scene at the end of last season, when he went 3-0 in his first three career starts, allowed one earned run and struck out 21, but walked nine, in 17 innings. But he doesn’t have a guaranteed spot in the rotation to start the season.
As it stands, the Red Sox’ rotation looks to include Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Richards, Martin Perez and Nick Pivetta, with Matt Andriese serving as a depth utility option. Barring an injury, it seems likely that Houck will start the year at Triple-A Worcester at the alternate site.
That’s fine to Houck, who doesn’t seem to feel like he deserves a spot in the rotation.
“For me, I just want to go out there and compete, whether it’s at the alternate site or in the big leagues,”
Houck said. “For me, I want to go out there and help the team win, so whatever they call me to do, I’m 100% willing to. I think we have an amazing team here and I don’t want to take anything away, I only want to give, so whatever they need me to do, I’m here for.”
Houck made his second appearance of the spring in Wednesday’s 5-3 win over the Braves and looked good in three shutout innings while striking out three and walking one. It was a vast improvement from his first outing last week, when he only recorded two outs as he walked five and allowed three earned runs.
There was significant life on Houck’s fastball, which sat consistently between 94-97 mph and topped out at 98, a big jump from last season when it averaged 93.2 mph over his three starts. Houck targeted that as a priority in his work this offseason as he worked to strengthen his entire body, from his legs to his core and shoulder.
“I definitely wanted to change just my whole body,” Houck said. “I wanted to go out there and put my best foot forward and that also includes changing the diet, sleeping habits and truly just pushing yourself in the weight room as much as possible. So, all the little things combined will help in the long run, so just staying on top of those things.”
Cora was impressed with the way Houck looked on Wednesday, but noted that his fastball velocity wasn’t the most important thing.
“I saw him pitch last year and I noticed he was 92, 93. With his movement, I thought that was good enough,” Cora said. “But now, you see 96, 97, it’s eye-opening. But at the end of the day, we still have to throw strikes.
And he did today. You saw the results. He didn’t throw strikes against Baltimore, you saw the results. He’s still getting better. He still works at it. He’s still buying the concept and throwing strikes and inducing weak contact which is very important. It’s just a matter of keep attacking of the strike zone with what he has.”
Though he was terrific last September, Houck knows he has work to do as a big-league pitcher. Perhaps most importantly, he needs to develop a quality third pitch in his splitter, which he’s still in the early stages with. He said he threw it twice on Wednesday and that he’s happy with how far it’s come, and he knows it’s “massive” to get hitters off his fastball and slider.
As he continues to develop, Houck isn’t putting any extra pressure on himself to get a spot in the rotation. The righty is very much just keeping his head down and letting everything take care of itself.
“I’m going to treat it just like I should whenever I go out there and pitch,” Houck said. “Go out there and attack. Don’t be passive. For me, I want to go out there and put my best foot forward every day, whether that’s in the clubhouse, in the weight room or on the field. So, I’ll put my best foot forward and let them make the decision.”