The sight of Tanner Houck's friends, family and former coach in the stands Saturday was good stuff.
Mom, writing diligently in her notebook while listening to Joe Castiglione and Will Flemming. Houck's fiancé next to a childhood friend, the pitcher's sister and grandmother, along with one of Houck's baseball mentors. Sure, he pitched last season, but this was different. This time he had witnesses.
"Having her here was amazing, Also my grandma was here, my sister, my fiancee, one of my former coaches, a few of my longtime childhood friends also made the flight out whenever I told them that I had gotten the news. So to have everyone here today was something special," the Sox starter said. "I’ve known these people my entire life almost, so like I said before, it takes a team on and off the field to reach to this point and they’re definitely part of my team off the field."
He added, "I don’t remember the last time she didn’t do the scorebook. She loves doing the book, that’s kind of her thing. I love having her here and even at home, she’ll be sitting in her bed watching the game. She’ll still do the scorebook, and I typically will go through and correct all her mistakes afterwards whenever she makes them, but to have her here in person was truly amazing. She’s been the biggest part of my life, so to have her here and spend this moment with her, I’m truly grateful.”
Considering the the Red Sox are now 0-2 to start the new season after dropping their 4-2 decision to the Orioles, the hometown team can use all the feel-good vibes they can get. And that's where Houck came in.
With his biggest supporters finally getting a chance to witness the pitcher do his thing in a major-league uniform at Fenway Park for the first time in-person, Houck didn't disappoint. The righty did exactly what he had done throughout his previous major-league appearances, this time striking out eight while allowing just two earned runs over five innings.
The 24-year-old has now totaled 22 innings with the Red Sox, allowing three earned runs while holding opponents to a .162 batting average. During that stretch he has struck out 29.
He has represented the piece of the puzzle the Red Sox have long starved for: A homegrown member of the starting rotation.
"He was good," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "Velocity was up (topping out at 96.3 mph). Movement of the pitches. He did an outstanding job. Fastball was up in the zone. He controlled his emotions. He did an amazing job for us."
So, now what?
It's understood that Houck's stay with the Red Sox was probably going to be a short one, with Eduardo Rodriguez potentially re-entering the rotation next week. But the presence of Houck is getting more and more powerful by the outing.
The only hiccup the former first-round pick has made since entering into the world of the major leagues came early in spring training, when he was clearly trying to prove all the offseason work done with the likes of Noah Syndergaard and Corey Kluber was ready to take him to yet another level. After calming down, however, he has continued to cruise.
He has the slider, the two fastballs and the occasional split (which he only threw two times). All are befuddling the opposition. All are helping add to the Houck bandwagon.
In the short-term, maybe this is just going to be a depth option. Teams need those. But the importance of Houck will only become more magnified the closer Rodriguez gets to free agency, with the deals of Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Richards and Martin Perez expiring after next season.
In short, the Red Sox need Houck to be good. The good news for them is that the pitcher is doing his part.
"Things are kind of coming together," he said. "It’s about showing up every day and pushing myself and knowing that I’ve got to continue to work and good things happen.”
