Whether or not Tanner Houck should be a starting pitcher or a reliever can be debated until the end of time.
No matter what you think, he certainly hasn't helped his case as a starter recently, and Monday served as the perfect example.
Houck cruised through his first 3.2 innings of work in what turned out to be another blowout against the Red Sox at Fenway in Monday's 10-1 loss. He no-hit the Mariners through that span, but a hard Ty France lineout that Pablo Reyes leaped to grab was the first sign of the loud contact that was ahead. Julio Rodríguez hit a screaming double on a nearly identical line as France's liner, but Houck got out of the inning with a groundout.
After a Eugenio Suárez single, Cal Raleigh took Houck deep with a 438-foot, 109.3-mph tank to the far right corner of the park. After giving up another single, Houck escaped after a pair of strikeouts and a flyball to center. The trouble continued in the sixth, though, where he failed to record an out, giving up a double to France (who advanced to third on an errant Alex Verdugo throw) and walking Rodríguez.
It left Brennan Bernardino in a tough jam. Jarred Kelenic reached on a fielder's choice that scored France, before Raleigh hit his second tank of the night, leaving the yard headed for Lansdowne.
It was another case of a concerning trend for Houck.
In his first time through the order, hitters are batting .111 against Houck with a .197 OBP and slugging .127. He has a 2.33 ERA.
In his second time through, batters have a .369 average, a .408 OBP and are slugging .523. His ERA is 5.40.
The third time through, opponents have an average of .303, an OBP of .351 and a .636 slugging. He holds a 13.50 ERA.
Night and day.
He nearly crumbled in Philadelphia last week in the fourth inning after the order flipped over again. Back-to-back singles, a walk allowed the Phillies to take a 2-0 lead off a fielder's choice and another single.
“If I had an answer we wouldn’t be talking about it,” Houck said. “But it’s an ongoing conversation with [Matt] Bush. Continue to develop. I feel like later innings are getting better with more experience and continuing to work with it. It’s one of those things where just continue to go out there, continue to work in-between starts and push myself to be better.
“The mindset all the way through the game is going out there, strike one, strike two, get ahead of hitters and go right after them. I think anyone here is going to preach that. It’s about stopping the big inning and continuing to go on the attack. But no, I wouldn’t say my mindset changes at all.”
You can see the potential with Houck. It's right there. He is borderline unhittable the first time through the order, but he gets knocked around the place the second and third times through.
“I don’t know [if it's] adjustments, but I think his stuff is still the same,” Cora said. “We keep talking about throwing your best pitches as much as possible, especially late in the outing. Just one of those that we got to keep working. Keep helping him to get better. That’s the bottom line.”
The starting rotation has quickly become crowded.
James Paxton's long-awaited and strong arrival only complicated things. Garrett Whitlock is set to begin a rehab stint in Worcester and could be back in Boston by the end of the month. Corey Kluber has struggled, but the Red Sox do not plan on moving the veteran to the bullpen. Chris Sale has seemingly returned to form recently, and Brayan Bello is showing his potential. Nick Pivetta has had his ups and downs.
"Cora even joked about it. We’re on a college schedule where everyone gets their own day,” Sale said Saturday
The skipper said Friday that Paxton isn't going anywhere, even if he (and Sale, still) will need to be carefully managed.
Tough conversations may be on the horizon, but internal competition might not be the worst thing for this rotation, particularly at the backend.
The debate around Houck's role shows no sign of slowing down.