Red Sox's Tanner Houck Appears To Be Odd-Man Out Of Rotation Despite Success

Boston will have to further define roles in their pitching staff

Scott Neville | Apr 24, 2023

Red Sox's Tanner Houck Appears To Be Odd-Man Out Of Rotation Despite Success /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox already boast a six-man rotation and will receive even more reinforcements in the near future.

Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello already have assumed starting roles with Kutter Crawford participating as a swingman and James Paxton a rehab outing or two away from getting called up to Boston.

The plan is to have a five-man rotation when the team returns, leaving three hurlers on the outside looking in.

Both Sale and Kluber appear to be rotation locks purely based on their veteran status and lack of fit in any other role. Boston has committed to both Whitlock and Bello as starters -- the former has been moved around too much and the latter is seen as a potential frontline starter.

Out of the remaining options, Pivetta appears to have the final spot until Paxton returns and likely assumes a starting role.

When (or if) everyone is healthy, Houck, Pivetta and Crawford are expected to move into key bullpen roles.

Houck has been the best starter in the Red Sox's rotation but Red Sox manager Alex Cora still does not seem to think of him as a starter in the grand scheme of things.

When asked about the rotation, Cora explained that Houck could be needed out of the bullpen this week and miss his start if other starters do not pull their weight.

“We’ll see how it goes this week,” Cora told reporters, as transcribed by MassLive's Chris Cotillo. “Most likely, it’s going to be Tanner (to start Wednesday) but we have to see where we’re at as far as the relievers and all that. We’re trying to stretch this as much as possible. I think it’s beneficial for us. It’s not that we have to be perfect but our starters have to give us length for us to be able to do stuff like this.”

After Crawford, Cora considered Houck as a possible emergency long reliever, implying he'd be next in line to be moved out of the rotation.

The unfortunate aspect of this is that Houck wants to be a starter and has been the best of the bunch. The 26-year-old is 3-0 with a 4.29 ERA, 22-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .234 batting average against in 21 innings across four starts.

Houck has earned the right to remain in the rotation but also projects as a dominant high-leverage reliever -- which is the appeal for Cora.

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Published Apr 24, 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