Tanner Houck

After bouncing back-and-forth between starting and relieving the previous two seasons, Houck was used exclusively as a starter by the Red Sox in 2023. The results were middling, with Houck finishing with an ERA over 5.00 and not posting an ERA below 4.00 in any month. His strikeout rate (21.4 percent) was also below the league average. Houck generates lots of grounders (53 percent) and does a good job of avoiding the long ball. However, he's always had problems with left-handed batters and usually gets worse as the game moves along, attributes which scream reliever. Whether the Red Sox go that route with the right-hander or give him another shot to start in 2024 isn't clear, and unless he's used as the closer (unlikely) he's probably not going to have much fantasy value in either role.

Houck was a stabilizing presence for a Red Sox bullpen that desperately needed one in 2022, as his already flexible role expanded even further to include shorter high-leverage outings and save opportunities. With Boston struggling to hold leads in the late innings, the 26-year-old received his first save chance in June and recorded six within a two-week span. Houck tied for the team lead with eight saves, but his season ended prematurely due to a disc issue in his back that required surgery. He finished with 60 innings across 32 appearances (four starts) with similar outputs to 2021, though his K-rate dipped nearly eight percentage points, from 30.5% to 22.7%. Houck expects to be cleared for the start of spring training and will spend this offseason building up to be a starter, but the Red Sox informed him he may end up back in the bullpen once the 2023 season starts. Kenley Jansen's arrival in free agency renders Houck much less relevant unless he actually makes the rotation or Jansen gets injured.

With Eduardo Rodriguez dealing with a sore arm to open the season, Houck broke camp with the Red Sox but was sent to the alternate site once Rodriguez was ready in mid-April. After dealing with a sore flexor muscle until mid-June, he spent the second half shuttling between Triple-A Worcester and the big club. While with the Red Sox, Houck made 18 appearances, starting five contests. Featuring an arsenal compared to a right-handed Chris Sale, Houck posted an impressive 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, buoyed by a 23.2% K-BB% which would have placed eighth among qualified starters, but he only tallied 69 frames, about 100 fewer than needed to make the leaderboard. If Houck can develop another secondary to complement his 94-mph fastball, wipeout slider and occasional splitter, he has ace potential. He should get a chance to prove himself as a member of Boston's starting rotation to begin the regular season.

Few prospects covered more developmental ground at their team's alternate training site than Houck, who cleaned up his crossfire delivery to the point that he may be able to stick in the rotation. His gains were rewarded with a three-start run to close the year, during which he dominated the Braves, Yankees and Marlins. He utilizes a four-seamer and a sinking two-seamer, both of which sit in the low-90s and touch 95 mph. Houck threw his wipeout mid-80s slider 94 times (35% usage), recording 10 strikeouts with the pitch while surrendering zero hits. Houck's fastball/slider combo is effective enough that he might be able to get by without a viable third pitch, but the development of his splitter would go a long way toward him sticking in Boston's rotation for years to come. He should get a pretty long leash in 2021, given the Red Sox's lack of rotation depth.

The Red Sox tried to teach Houck a four-seam fastball in 2018, but it was flat, straight and ineffective, so they had him go back to using the two-seamer primarily last season. It was that pitch -- regarded as one of the best two-seam fastballs in the 2017 draft class -- that led Boston to take Houck 24th overall that year. With the change back to a more familiar approach, Houck was able to advance to Triple-A, and he enjoyed a good deal of success out of the bullpen with Pawtucket, holding opponents to a .202 average in his 25 innings with the top affiliate. He allowed just a 12.5% line-drive rate at Triple-A. His walk rate spiked with the jump in levels and the strikeout rates have been modest so far in his professional career, but Houck is now a step away and could theoretically rise fast up the ranks in Boston's largely unsettled bullpen.