Red Sox Pitcher Joins Elite List With Dominant Sunday Night Baseball Performance

Tanner Houck Joins Elite Company

Houck entered this season facing the same questions as in the past. Can he get through a lineup three times? He’s changed the narrative under Bailey. His performance on Sunday Night Baseball to cap off his month of April brought him to match Pedro Martinez in August of 2000 with three starts of 9+ strikeouts and no walks.

If you recall, Martinez won the Cy Young that season with the Red Sox.

Over his first month of the season, Houck has thrown 39.1 innings to a 1.60 ERA and a 2.04 FIP. What’s more impressive is his contrast in his third time through the order. In 2023, he threw to batters for a third plate appearance 85 times. During those 85 plate appearances, opponents hit .307/.377/.560. He let up seven doubles, four home runs, and 17 runs.

This season has been a different story so far. Tanner Houck has found himself facing batters for a third time in 41 plate appearances. He’s held batters to a .243/.317/.297 slash line. It’s a .300 swing in OPS and largely in the slugging area. Opponents have only had two doubles, and three runs the third time through the order.

Time will tell if Houck will continue his trend of dominance. He’s fifth in MLB in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. His 3.2 BB% and 0.92 WHIP would suggest that he’s limiting the traffic and should continue this performance, even if he regresses toward his FIP of 2.04.