There was a hint Friday night.
With the Red Sox' clinging to a two-run lead heading into the final inning in Oakland, Alex Cora had got up Tanner Houck in his team's bullpen to potentially close things out. The moment never presented itself thanks to another layer of runs by the Sox, but did surface an interesting notion.
Was Houck trending from being a long relief, follow-the-starter-type of guy to one of the missing pieces on this Red Sox roster?
"His stuff late in games is hard to square up," Cora said the next day of Houck. "The sinker, four-seamer, four-seamer and split. The mentality he’s not afraid. He came out of the bullpen last year and was huge for us. He’s one of those guys, we see him as a weapon back there and we’ll use him the right way."
Well, "the right way" now sure looks a lot like something which can help accomplish what has been a somewhat elusive feat for these Red Sox - the art of getting some of those final few outs.
Houck's new role was put on display in the Red Sox' 6-5, 10-inning win over the Angels Tuesday night, with the righty coming on to pitch a scoreless eighth and ninth innings. He struck out three while getting five whiffs (all on his slider) while throwing 30 pitches.
After the game - in which Matt Strahm closed things out by striking out two of his three batters - Cora made it official: Expect to see Houck as one of the game-enders going forward.
"That’s what we’re looking for," Cora told reporters after his team's sixth straight win. "We’re going to use him in high-leverage situations and will try to avoid the three-inning, four-inning stints. Maximum, he’ll go two.”
"I had a lot of fun in that situation. It gets the blood boiling a little bit. Heart rate up. Living in the moment," said Houck, according to MLB.com.
Houck's resurgence hasn't been a coincidence, with the pitcher rediscovering his most lethal pitch - the slider - with help from a new grip taught to him by teammate Austin Davis.
Since the implementation, Houck has not surrendered a single run over 14 innings (six outings), striking out 15 and walking just four.
The Red Sox have been uncovering a lot of good lately, and late-inning Houck might be one of their best discoveries, yet.
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A NASTY slider from Tanner Houck ends the Angels’ scoring threat. What a game. #DirtyWater #GoHalos #RedSox #Angels #MLB pic.twitter.com/SZa2LcU2v2
— Baseball Today (@dailymlbtweets) June 8, 2022
