FORT MYERS, Fla. — This offseason, the Red Sox identified Tanner Houck as a pitcher they wanted to keep stretched out, with the potential to enter the rotation if needed.
Initially, it appeared the Red Sox had too many starters and that Houck would find himself back in the bullpen, but as is often the case, injuries cropped up and now it’s looking likely that Houck will begin the year in the rotation.
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With that in mind, he’s been expanding his arsenal.
This spring, the 26-year-old righty has been working to diversify his pitch mix, continuing to refine his splitter while also adding a brand new cutter, to go along with his signature sinker-slider combination.
In four spring starts, Houck has posted a 5.68 ERA with 10 walks and 15 strikeouts. The numbers don’t look all that enticing, but Houck has been trying to get comfortable with throwing the splitter and cutter more.
On Friday in a start against the Braves, Houck surrendered two homers to first baseman Matt Olson, the second of which came on the splitter.
“I didn’t finish it as well as I have been,” he said of that particular splitter. “But it’s one of those pitches where I’m continuing to develop it. I’m throwing it more in games now, strictly because my confidence is getting better with it.”
Mistakes will come, but that’s what spring training is for.
Pitchers often fall into comfort zones throwing certain pitches in certain counts to certain batters. The successful ones find ways to be less predictable less often, but having a pitch and throwing it with conviction are two different things. Houck has had a splitter since he debuted in 2020, but hasn’t used it much. Last season, it comprised just 6 percent of his pitch mix compared to 7.4 percent in 2021. The cutter has been under development this spring.
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“Human element obviously comes into play, like so much in the game,” Houck said. “You’re gonna fall into your tendencies and your comfortability. I’ve really tried to push my limits of being comfortable, but also knowing that, hey, I need to know when I can throw this pitch and build the confidence to throw it in the 2-1 counts, the 3-1 count, as well as also throwing them in 0-2 counts.”
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Houck recognizes that spring results do matter somewhat for someone fighting for a rotation spot, but understands too that working on things that will make him more successful in season is the priority.
For pitching coach Dave Bush, the part of his job he enjoys the most is helping pitchers get a feel for developing new pitches and when and where to use them. Spring training, in particular, presents in-the-moment opportunities to coach new tendencies.
“I like doing it in-game because it’s easier to respond to the situation,” Bush said. “If he’s thrown the pitch, or if he hasn’t, and then he comes back in the dugout, it’s a good chance while fresh in his mind, to say, ‘OK, here was an opportunity you could have thrown it more, and maybe here’s ones where you had some other options that you could have gone to before you went to the splitter.’
“A lot of it is part of his growth as a pitcher,” Bush added. “The cutter is a new pitch for him this year too, so he’s figuring out how that fits with his mix overall and also how it pairs with certain pitches.”
For most pitchers, a lot of work goes into developing a new pitch before it is used on the mound in a game. Houck has worked on the splitter, and more so this spring on the cutter, in side sessions and bullpens and then thrown them in live batting practice to see how his own teammates respond.
“It’s new for him, but he’s practicing it now for a month and a half,” Bush said. “That’s kind of how you step through new pitches, you get comfortable with the grip and the movement, build some confidence off the field, and find certain situations and certain hitters where maybe it’s the right guy to use it against at the right time. In spring training we do have to try stuff. You build your way to it and find situations and games and hitters and counts where it’s a good spot to try and build some confidence with it.”
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Houck is always going to rely most heavily on his sinker-slider combination, but adding different pitches to his repertoire could help when navigating opposing batting orders a third time. Since his debut, Houck has struggled the third time through the order, often resulting in shorter outings. Houck has only completed six innings twice in his three-year career (20 starts), with both of those outings coming in 2020.
“Having some other options, either balls that move in different directions or different velocities or being able to command different parts of the strike zone, those are all pieces that he’s adding to what he does and as he figures it out that’ll make him a better pitcher,” Bush said.
The wealth of information at a team’s disposal helps analysts and, in turn, coaches figure out which pitches might suit a player based on the way he throws and how his other pitches move. If it doesn’t work or the pitcher can’t get comfortable with it, they’ll scrap it. But if the information suggests trying a new pitch, why not?
“I think it’s one of the big benefits of pitch data we have now we can show guys exactly why,” Bush said. “We can measure the movement, the velo, we can compare it to other pitches, we can compare it to other guys who have similar shapes and movements and velos and that’s all part of the process in building confidence and hopefully when they do take it out into a game, they’re not just guessing and hoping it’s going to be good. They have an understanding why we think it’s good, and ideally that gives more confidence to go out and try it and then the success will follow and as always success builds more confidence.”
(Top photo of Tanner Houck: Gerald Herbert / AP Photo)