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So far this year, the Boston Red Sox have not seen Tanner Houck pitch like he did during his 2024 All-Star campaign. Houck has struggled with consistency and could lose his spot in the rotation.
Against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night, Houck allowed 11 earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings of work. According to MassLive's Chris Cotillo, the team will consider skipping Houck's next turn in the rotation. He did not commit to it, but the fact that he did not shoot down the idea means it is on the table.
"We’ll talk about it, of course...," said manager Alex Cora. "I’ve got to take a look at the video and we’ve got to see what we’re gonna do. Right now, it’s too fresh. It’s too quick. We have to take a look at it and see if it’s mechanical, usage, or where we’re at."
Houck leads baseball in earned runs allowed. However, not all of his outings have looked like his most recent. He had a quality start against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 1. He struck out six across seven innings of work.
"He had that good one in Toronto. The last one was OK," Cora said, per Cotillo, after the game. "Today, there were a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone. The split was up. They put some good swings on it. The slider, he wasn’t able to get it across home plate and down in the zone to lefties. Just one of those."
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The Red Sox were expecting Houck to build on his first career All-Star selection. However, that has not been the case. He has an 8.04 ERA. Perhaps giving him extra time to rest could be the key. If the Red Sox skip his next start, but he still struggles, the team will need to explore other options, like moving him to the bullpen.
Houck had a 3.12 ERA in 2024. On none of his 30 starts did he allow more than six earned runs or last less than three innings. He has done both of those things on two separate occasions this year.
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