Red Sox Demote Key Red Sox Reliever To Create Room For Tanner Houck

Boston's pitching staff is back to full strength but at a cost

Scott Neville | Aug 22, 2023

Red Sox Demote Key Red Sox Reliever To Create Room For Tanner Houck /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have spent months piecing together a pitching staff that truly only featured three starting pitchers and a handful of inexperienced or middling relievers aside from their two back-end forces -- Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen.

With Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck out for so long, it allowed some younger hurlers to prove themselves. The player who arguably stood out the most was 25-year-old Chris Murphy.

Unfortunately, his time in Boston is up, at least for the time being.

"The Red Sox have optioned left-handed reliever Chris Murphy to Triple-A Worcester to make room on the active roster for Tanner Houck who will start Tuesday against the (Houston) Astros," MassLive's Christopher Smith wrote late Monday night.

Murphy posted a 3.72 ERA with a 39-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .253 batting average against and 1.42 WHIP in 38 2/3 innings across 13 appearances in his unique bulk reliever role.

While his numbers are not overwhelming, one bad outing against the Toronto Blue Jays -- in which he allowed six earned runs over 2 1/3 innings -- massively skewed his season totals.

In his place will be Tanner Houck, who has failed to establish himself as a starter this season. The right-hander has a 5.05 ERA, 64-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a .243 batting average against and a 1.26 WHIP in 67 2/3 innings pitched across 13 games.

With as many converted starters as the Red Sox have, manager Alex Cora can limit Houck's usage the third time through the order -- which should make him much more effective.

As for Murphy, his stint in the minors will be short-lived. Boston will bring him back as a September call-up in less than two weeks.

More MLB: Red Sox Calling Up Hottest Prospect In Organization To Replace Injured Star

Published Aug 22, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu