PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — If the 2025 season goes anything like Saturday did for Tanner Houck, the Red Sox rotation is in big trouble.
Houck was shellacked in his final spring training outing of the year, allowing 10 earned runs on 12 hits in just 3 ⅔ innings in a lopsided 14-2 loss to Tampa Bay. The righty was hit hard throughout the afternoon and finished off a brutal Grapefruit League showing with a 11.20 ERA in four starts (13 ⅔ innings).
As the old adage goes, those numbers won’t go on the back of Houck’s baseball card. In that vein, the usually chipper righty wasn’t worried after the outing.
“You take away the good things you can,” Houck said. “Obviously, the results suck. I’ll be the first one to say it. All in all, good to get work in and get the pitch count bumped up. I feel healthy and strong and that’s all you can take from it.
“I feel great. Physically, (Andrew) Bailey and I were talking in the dugout and everything’s up a little bit. Velo, movement. It just comes down to executing a little bit finer. All in all, ready for the start of the season.”
Houck threw approximately 85 pitches, which is where the Red Sox wanted to get him before he makes his season debut Friday at Globe Life Field as the No. 2 starter. Both Houck and manager Alex Cora preached the importance of building up Houck’s pitch count and keeping him healthy, two things that were accomplished in camp.
But coming off a year in which Houck logged a career-high 30 starts and 178 ⅓ innings — while breaking down a bit in the second half — there’s some reason to be concerned about the 28-year-old. In all, Houck was tagged for 19 runs (17 earned) and 29 hits in 13 ⅔ Grapefruit League innings while striking out just seven batters all spring. That he failed to induce much swing-and-miss was an unnerving sign. So was the fact he had nearly as many walks (5) as punchouts (7).
The Red Sox can only hope there’s no correlation between Houck’s Grapefruit League performance and the regular season. Alarmingly, in the last two seasons, there has been. In 2024, before launching an All-Star campaign that included a stellar first half, Houck logged a 2.77 ERA in four spring starts. The year prior, when he struggled, he had a brutal spring, logging a 9.74 ERA and allowing 27 hits in 20 ⅓ innings.
“I’ve never even really thought about it,” said Houck when asked about a potential correlation. “For me, it’s about coming in, getting the work in and getting the body right. You spend all offseason experimenting on new stuff, trying out new things and new grips. This is our time to put it all together. I always compare it to a puzzle, trying to find the right pieces at the right time. I don’t really think about the results.”
Cora believes pitching with more intent in a real game environment will pay dividends.
“We’ve got to make better competitive pitches when we’re ahead in the count. He was ahead in the count a lot but we didn’t make competitive pitches after that,” Cora said. “At least he got his repetitions. That’s something that we can correct, intent and all that stuff. He’ll be ready for the second game.”
For Houck and the Red Sox, Friday’s outing will begin to tell the real story.
“Whenever those lights come on, stealing the quote from the SEC, it just means more to everyone and upticks everything just a little bit more,” Houck said.
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