BALTIMORE — Tanner Houck spent spring training battling with Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowski and Cooper Criswell for the final two spots in the Red Sox starting rotation.
A couple of months later, Houck is competing with Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal, Orioles righty Corbin Burnes and the league’s other top pitchers for the AL Cy Young.
Houck, who will make his next start Friday vs. the Tigers at Fenway Park, has the third best odds (+1100) to win the AL Cy Young behind Skubal (+150) and Burnes (+425), per DraftKings. Mariners’ Luis Castillo has the fourth best odds (+1200).
But the potential of winning it isn’t something he’s thought about or made one his goals. The season is a little more than a third of the way finished.
“No. It’s still early in the season,” Houck said before the Red Sox’ 6-1 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday. “I think we’ve got 115 games left, whatever it is.”
It’s 106 games left.
“Only 11 starts deep,” Houck continued. “So not even on the radar. Take it day by day. Keep getting better each day. Have a quality game of catch and then show back up the next day and do it all again. And just try to repeat that as many times as you can.”
The 27-year-old leads all major league pitchers in fWAR (2.5). He has a 1.90 ERA (71 innings, 15 earned runs) and 0.99 WHIP in 11 starts. Opponents are batting .215 against him. He’s averaging 8.7 strikeouts and just 1.6 walks per nine innings. He has given up only one home run.
“I work extremely hard at this craft,” Houck said, reflecting on where he is now compared to just a couple of months ago. “I love what I do. I try and never take this game for granted. Every opportunity that I’ve ever had I’ve tried to not take it for granted. It’s been many hours, days, weeks, months, years of work to put it all together.”
Houck has shown glimpses of this. He went 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA (17 innings, one earned run) in three starts as a rookie in 2020. But he’s finally putting it all together with much better command than he has ever had. He’s in the 89th percentile among MLB pitchers in walk percentage (4.6%). He’s in the 94th percentile in groundball percentage (56.1%).
“Hard work each and every day will pay off in the long run,” Houck said. “I know it’s not always the most glamorous thing to hear or do. But it is the recipe to success. Talent can only take you so far.”
The Red Sox will not face Skubal, the AL Cy Young frontrunner, when they host the Tigers for four games at Fenway Park beginning Thursday. Skubal pitched Wednesday and allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out eight over 7 scoreless innings against the Pirates.
Boston faced Burnes, who has the second best odds, here at Camden Yards on Wednesday. He held Boston to three hits and one unearned run in 7 innings.
“We grinded with him,” manager Alex Cora said. “We put pressure on him early. He’s one of the best pitchers in the big leagues. It’s 96 (mph), cutting. He used his breaking ball to get ahead against the righties. He used his slider to put ‘em away. The changeup to lefties played. He is who he is. Those games you have to grind with him. ... For some young guys that we have, we put good at-bats.”