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