BOSTON -- The Red Sox no longer talk as much about the promise of
Houck fell one out shy of his first six-inning outing since recording two of them in his September call-up season of 2020.\n\n“They showed some discipline early on but at the end it was weak contact,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He was able to give us 5 2/3 \\[innings\\] and pass the baton to the bullpen and the bullpen finished it.”\n\nWas Houck dominant? The modest five whiffs on the 35 swings the Twins took against his 89 pitches show he wasn’t quite that.\n\nDid he keep the Twins -- who clearly came in with the mindset of being patient -- off-balanced? The 15 called strikes paint the picture that he did, as did a spray chart which shows Houck hitting several different quadrants of the plate.
Did Houck have plenty of life on his pitches? His fastball maxed out at 96.2 mph and his sinker hit 95, so that answers that.\n\n“What he did was, even when he got behind and even when got into these three-ball counts, he won those early in the game,” credited Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “I think almost every lefty got to a three-ball count the first time through or maybe even more than that. That’s usually a good sign for us. Today it wasn’t.\n\n“He got to the end of those at-bats, whether it be 3-1, 3-2, and made good pitches and either got a swing and a miss or got some weak contact and found a way to pitch through. That’s impressive.”\n\nHouck’s pitch mix is why the club believes he can be a starter all season rather than the swingman role he was so effective in last season.\n\nThis was the allotment of pitches for Houck on Saturday: He threw 30 fastballs, 27 sliders, 19 sinkers and 13 splitters.\n\n“I was super happy with where everything was at,” Houck said. “Like I said, mechanics are coming along to where I feel a lot more confident, it’s easier to repeat. And I’m just truly excited for what the season still has to bring.”
\n\nShut ‘em down, Tanner! \uD83D\uDC4A pic.twitter.com/QUtAKPZn33
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 16, 2022
Tabbed as the No. 3 starter for a rotation that currently lacks two impact injured veterans in Chris Sale and James Paxton, Houck is out to prove he can be a top-three of the rotation type of pitcher.\n\nClearly, he has some believers in the clubhouse.\n\n“He didn’t have his best slider and he still didn’t give up any runs,” said Xander Bogaerts. “That shows you how impressive he can be. He can be really good for a long time.”\n\n**Baton to bestie** \nFor Houck, one of the thrills of this one is that he essentially passed the baton to his best friend on the team in