Tanner Houck

Houck worked exclusively as a starter in 2024 and shaved nearly two runs off his ERA, improved his walk rate and was better against lefties on his way to posting a 3.9 fWAR. The right-hander still refers to his money pitch as a slider, but it acted like a sweeper, which he was influenced to throw by new pitching coach Andrew Bailey. There weren't many starters better in the first half than Houck, whose 2.54 ERA and strikeout-per-inning rate landed him in the All-Star Game. He fell off in the second half, but the team views 2024 as a season of growth. Houck pitched deeper into games, improved in the latter innings, and a high groundball rate (93rd percentile) kept home runs down over his career-high 30 starts. Houck was poised to start Opening Day, but that staff ace will now be Garrett Crochet, for whom Boston traded a couple of top prospects. Read Past Outlooks