Houck builds off debut with sights set on rotation

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Tanner Houck has been a lot of things since he came to the Red Sox as a first-round Draft pick in 2017.

A starter. A reliever. A starter. A bulk reliever. A closer. He’s proved his worth in versatility and willingness to do whatever the club asks of him, but there is also value in predictability and routine. While it looked like Houck might work from the bullpen to start the season, injuries have now shifted that projection a bit.

Whether he’ll be back in the rotation come Opening Day depends on several circumstances -- many out of Houck’s control -- but he certainly didn’t do anything but help his chances during Boston’s 10-2 win over the Braves on Tuesday night at CoolToday Park.

“He threw strikes, made some adjustments on the mound and had good stuff,” manager Alex Cora said. “[Gave up a] homer, but that’s going to happen when you’re aggressive in the zone; we’ll take that. As far as stuff, I saw a lot of swings and misses, and he used a split-change a few times today and kept them off-balance, so that was a good one.”

As Houck headed into his second spring start, the onus was on him to throw strikes, attack hitters and work deeper into the game than he did in his 1 2/3-inning, four-walk Grapefruit League debut against the Phillies on Thursday.

Cora said the Braves were a “big test” for Houck, and that he was looking for his righty to “get to two strikes as soon as possible and bury them.”

Houck took the battle plan and ran with it, issuing first-pitch strikes to 11 of 13 batters across his three-inning start. He worked the count full just twice along the way and threw one ball in each of the first two innings. (Houck was also charged with a pitch-timer violation to leadoff batter Ozzie Albies, bringing his two-inning total to 16 strikes of 19 pitches.)

“Strike one is big,” Houck said. “Statistics show that strike one is absolutely huge for the mindset of the pitcher and the hitter. As a pitcher, you're ahead now, you are in the driver's seat. As the hitter, if you're down 0-1, you're back on your heels a little bit more, you’ve got to start protecting.

“So yeah, going out there and pounding the zone was definitely in the back of my mind after my last outing. I wanted to go out there and really try and execute pitches in the zone and go right after guys.”

After he faced one over the minimum and collected three of his four strikeouts in the first two innings, the Braves took Houck to full counts twice in the final frame. He lost both to walks but was only behind in the count one other time during his outing, when he threw a first-pitch ball to Matt Olson, the game’s second batter.

Houck came to the Red Sox as a starter and then moved to relief out of necessity in 2022. This spring, the problem is the same -- injuries have left Boston wanting -- except this time, the opportunity is for Houck to slide back into the rotation.

Houck entered spring as one of seven potentials competing for five spots. Injuries to Brayan Bello (right forearm tightness), James Paxton (right hamstring) and Garrett Whitlock (right-hip surgery) have made Houck a more likely candidate to either start or, at the very least, stay stretched out in long relief. None of the three are expected to be out long, but one or all of them might not start the season on time, making Houck’s spring success that much more important.

While Spring Training results typically don’t make or break a player’s roster hopes, it stands to reason that the better Houck pitches in March, the better his chances at nabbing a rotation spot.

The 26-year-old is, of course, happy to pitch whenever the team needs him, but he also wasn’t shy early on in camp about his eagerness to rejoin the starting ranks.

On Tuesday night, he let his arm do the talking.

“For me, it's just go out there and put the best foot forward and let them make the decision,” Houck said. “My job isn't to question them, it's to go out there and get as many outs as they want me to.

“I would love to start, but it's one of those things and it comes down to it and the team needs something else, I'll step up and do it.”