I mean, yeah. Probably.
Tanner Houck currently sports an ERA+ of 52. Amongst qualified starters, that is the worst in all of baseball. His 1.695 WHIP is also the worst in the majors. His 66 hits, 39 runs, 8.04 ERA, and 5 HBP are all, also, the worst in the majors. And his bWAR of -1.5 is, naturally, the worst in the majors — and that’s amongst all pitchers, not just qualified starters, meaning that there literally have been 584 pitchers who have been more valuable than Tanner Houck in 2025.
Cue the “Not great, Bob!” meme.
And let’s be clear about something, too: his poor performance is not just a 2025 issue. Despite beginning the 2024 season so strongly that he was in the conversation to start the All-Star Game for the American League, he has been a bad pitcher for almost a full calendar year now. On June 29, 2024, Houck had what was his worst start of the season up that point, when he allowed seven earned runs in 4.1 innings against the Padres. For the rest of the season, he put up an ERA of just 4.42.
And after giving up 11 earned runs against the Tigers last night and admitting that he is as lost as he’s ever been in his career, manager Alex Cora has conceded that Tanner Houck may be removed from the rotation.
While no roster moves have been announced yet, the Sox are actually fairly well-positioned to handle this right now. Walker Buehler is expected to return to action next week. Houck’s next scheduled start is Sunday, so Buehler won’t be able to step in there. But with Sean Newcomb having thrown 90 pitches in relief last night, he could seamlessly slot into Houck’s spot for one turn through the rotation, with Cooper Criswell, who is scheduled to pitch for Worcester tonight, getting called up to replace Newcomb as the long-man in the pen.
This is why pitching depth is so important, and this is exactly what Craig Breslow has excelled at during his young tenure. No, I do not expect good things from a Sean Newcomb spot start this weekend. But I am more than happy to see what Hunter Dobbins can do with an extended run in the rotation after Buehler returns and sends Newcomb back to the pen. Then we’ll see how the competition stacks up when Richard Fitts and Kutter Crawford, who have both been throwing for several weeks now, return to the big league ball club. We may even get to see Shane Drohan, who has been building back his prospect status in Worcester this year with a 2.03 ERA in 26.2 innings (though Drohan is not currently on the 40-man roster, so don’t bet on it).
And who knows: the next time we see Tanner Houck throw a baseball for the Red Sox it may be out of the bullpen. Houck has a 2.68 ERA as a reliever over the course of his career and could provide a major boost to a unit that has performed decently enough but could use some more steady arms for high-leverage situations.
I wouldn’t say I’m happy about the rotation after Garrett Crochet. I wrote in the offseason that I would’ve preferred that the Sox sign Max Fried instead of Alex Bregman and I stand by it. But I do believe that between Buehler, Fitts, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito, the Sox have enough quality arms to stay in the postseason race for the next four-and-a-half months, with or without Tanner Houck.