Full name is Tanner Lee Houck...Is an avid fisherman...Was selected by the Blue Jays out of Collinsville (IL) High School in the 2014 June Draft but elected to attend the University of Missouri...Ranked second among three-year players in Missouri history with 292 SO, trailing Kyle Gibson (304 from 2007-09)...Became the school’s second pitcher to throw at least 300 innings in three or fewer seasons...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 8 college prospect available in the 2017 June Draft.
2023
Set career highs in wins (6), starts (21) and innings pitched (106.0)...Pitched only as a starter, after serving as both a reliever and as a starter in 2021 and 2022...Missed 55 games from 6/17-8/21 due to a facial fracture suffered when he was hit in the face by a line drive on 6/16 vs. NYY...Went 3-0 over his first four starts and 3-2 over his final six starts, but went 0-8 in 11 starts between those spans. Six of his 21 starts were at least 6.0 IP...Held RHH to a .236 AVG/.622 OPS (3 HR) and LHH to a .271 AVG/.858 OPS (11 HR)...Posted a 2.71 ERA in innings 1-3 (19 ER/63.0 IP) but an 8.17 ERA from the fourth inning on (39 ER/43.0 IP)...Opponents batted .213 with a .744 OPS the first time through the lineup (35-for-164, 8 2B, 4 HR), .274 with a .764 OPS the second time (46-for-168, 9 2B, 6 HR) and .307 with a .937 OPS the 3rd time (23-for-75, 7 2B, 4 HR)...Opponents batted .178 (26-for-146) against his slider...49 of his 99 SO came via the slider...Ranked in MLB's 89th percentile in ground ball rate (53.3%)...Posted a 3.93 ERA in 10-day games (23 ER/52.2 IP) compared to a 6.08 ERA in 11 night starts (36 ER/53.1 IP)...Allowed two runs or fewer in each of his three starts vs. NYY, going 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP), 15 SO and a 1.00 WHIP (11 H, 5 BB).
2022
Set career highs in wins (5), games (32) and saves (8)...Tied for the team lead in saves. Missed the Sox’ final 54 games due to a back injury. Posted a 2.70 ERA in 28 relief outings (13 ER/43.1 IP) and a 4.32 ERA in four starts (8 ER/16.2 IP)...In his final 25 games of the season (beginning 5/15), posted a 1.49 ERA (6 ER/36.1 IP). Tossed at least 2.0 innings in relief 10 times, seven of which were scoreless. Ranked 12th among AL pitchers (min. 60.0 IP) with a .295 opponent SLG (6 2B, 3 HR). Ranked in MLB’s 86th percentile in barrel percentage (4.9%)...Only 8 of 163 batted balls against him were barrels. Went 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in 18 road games (6 ER/29.2 IP) and 2-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 14 home games (15 ER/30.1 IP). Opponents hit .152 against his slider (12-for-79)... Allowed 1 XBH against his sinker (21-for-73, 1 2B).
2021
Made his first career Opening Day roster...Made 18 appearances (13 starts) over seven ML stints, including three as the club’s 27th man for a doubleheader...Allowed three ER or fewer in each of his 18 ML outings...Posted a 3.68 ERA as a starter (24 ER/58.2 IP) and a 2.61 ERA as a reliever (3 ER/10.1 IP)...Had a sub-4.00 ERA at home (3.32) and on the road (3.77)...Also made six appearances with Triple-A Worcester (all starts), going 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA (12 ER/21.0 IP)...In spring training, made four appearances (two starts) and went 2-0 with a 5.06 ERA (6 ER/10.2 IP)...Started the Sox’ second game of the season (4/3 vs. BAL) and struck out eight batters in 5.0 IP (L, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 R/2 ER)...Became the fifth Sox pitcher (since ER became an official stat) to throw 5.0+ innings and allow 2 ER or fewer in each of his first 4 ML games, joining Dave Ferriss (1945), Don Schwall (1961), Dave Morehead (1963), and Aaron Sele (1993)...In three July outings with the Sox (two starts), allowed only 1 ER in 11.2 IP (0.77 ERA) and held opponents to a .125 AVG (5-for-40, 18 SO, 4 BB)...On 7/16 at NYY, earned his first career save in the Sox’ 4-0 win...Threw the final 3.0 innings (1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO)...Recalled by BOS on 8/24 and spent the remainder of the season in the majors...Earned his first win of the season on 9/18 vs. BAL, allowing only one hit in 2.2 scoreless innings (0 BB, 3 SO)...In his final outing (10/2 at WSH), threw 5.0 perfect innings with 8 SO...According to Elias, the only other Red Sox to allow zero baserunners in an entire outing of 5.0+ innings is Cy Young (5/5/1904 vs. PHI, 9.0 IP).
POSTSEASON: Made five relief appearances for the Sox in his Postseason debut (10.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 10 SO)...Earned a hold in his Postseason debut in the Wild Card Game vs. NYY...Tossed a perfect seventh inning with 2 SO...In Game 2 of the ALDS at TB, allowed 1 run in 5.0 innings of relief and earned the win (2 H, 0 BB, 5 SO)...Was the sixth Red Sox pitcher to throw 5.0+ innings of relief in a Postseason game, only the third in the last 100 years, joining Pedro Martinez (1999 ALDS Game 5 at CLE) and Nathan Eovaldi (2018 World Series Game 3 at LAD)...Retired 30 consecutive batters spanning 9/28 at BAL to Game 2 of the ALDS at TB (see table above).
2020
Made his ML debut, starting three games in September... was 1 of 6 Red Sox to make a Major League debut in 2020...Went 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA (1 ER/17.0 IP)...Struck out 33.3% of his batters faced (21 of 63), the Sox’ highest mark...Allowed only 6 hits to his 63 batters faced (6-for-53, .113 AVG)...lefties had a .111 AVG/.439 OPS against him and righties had a .114 AVG/.444 OPS...All 6 hits came against his 4-seam fastball (6-for27)...allowed 0 hits against his slider (0-for-15, 10 SO), 2-seamer (0-for-10, 3 SO), and splitter (0-for-1), according to Statcast...Each of his opponents advanced to at least the Division Series round of the Postseason (MIA, NYY, ATL)...Raised $5,013 for Caritas Family Solutions through his Pitch4Adoption pledge...personally donated $100 for each of his 21 strikeouts.
2019
Made his Triple-A debut, but spent most of the year with Double-A Portland and was named an Eastern League mid-season All-Star...His first 15 appearances came as a starter, but 16 of his final 18 outings came in relief...In 14 Triple-A relief appearances, posted a 2.05 ERA and held opponents to a .179 AVG (22.0 IP, 14 H, 5 ER)...Also pitched for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League and for Team USA in the Premier12 tournament...All 8 appearances with the teams came as a starter...Began the season by allowing 7 ER in 4.0 IP in his Double-A debut on 4/6 vs. Reading, but allowed only 1 run in his remaining 3 starts in April (16.0 IP)...In his 7 starts with Portland from 5/25-7/1, went 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA and a .209 opponent AVG (43.0 IP, 33 H, 11 ER, 1 HR, 15 BB, 43 SO)...Moved to the bullpen after allowing 1 run (0 ER) in 7.0 IP on 7/1 vs. Trenton...Made his reliever debut on 7/6 at New Hampshire and allowed 6 ER in 0.1 IP...In his remaining 15 relief outings between Portland and Pawtucket, posted a 1.96 ERA (5 ER/23.0 IP)...Pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the Eastern League All-Star Game on 7/10 (1 H, 2 SO)...Promoted to Pawtucket on 7/13 and spent the rest of the season with the PawSox...Following the season, made 6 starts for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League, going 3-2 with a 3.47 ERA (9 ER/23.1 IP), 26 SO, and 12 BB...In his final 4 outings, posted a 1.50 ERA (3 ER/18.0 IP)...Also made two starts with Team USA in the Premier12 tournament, going 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA (4 ER/9.1 IP)...Pitched against Mexico (4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO) and Australia (5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO).
