WORCESTER — The last time Tanner Houck took the mound he wasn’t himself. The Red Sox right-hander allowed 11 runs in one of the worst outings of his career and was placed on the 15-day injured list two days later.
Making his first appearance since that May 12 debacle, Houck looked much better.
Houck allowed one run over one-plus innings in Wednesday’s rehab outing with the WooSox, allowing two hits and a walk without striking out a batter. Houck needed 27 pitches to complete the top of the first, getting two quick outs before allowing a pair of singles, and came back for the top of the second before being lifted after walking the first batter he faced.
That man came around to score as part of a five-run rally by the Buffalo Bisons off WooSox pitcher Isaac Coffey, closing the book on Houck. He finished with 32 pitches in total, 18 of which went for strikes.
“It felt good to be back, it felt good to be out there competing,” said Houck, who is working his way back from a right flexor pronator strain. “I felt in sync, the stretch was a little stiff but for the first one back happy to be able to get the two ups and in terms of pitch shapes I like where everything’s at, now it’s just continuing to go out there and compete.”
Houck was efficient out of the gate, drawing a groundout on three pitches to start his outing before appearing to get a called strike three against Michael Stefanic for the second out. But unlike in the majors, Triple-A has the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, and Stefanic appealed to the electronic strike zone and had the call overturned.
Stefanic wound up grounding out to third after a nine-pitch battle, but the next two men singled, putting Houck in a two-out jam against Riley Tirotta. Once again Houck struggled to put the Triple-A batter away, but was able to draw a ground out after eight pitches.
“A lot of foul balls in the first inning, not quite swing and miss stuff quite yet,” Houck said.
Houck’s fastball sat 94-96 mph and his slider was notably improved. The right-hander said when things went badly last month the pitch was moving too vertically and was behaving more like a curveball, but now it’s back to moving horizontally like it’s supposed to.
With Wednesday’s first rehab outing under his belt, Houck said he’ll take the mound again on Tuesday for the WooSox in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Beyond that the plan is to steadily work up to 80 or 90 pitches before making a return to the big league roster.
Marquee Mizzou matchup
You won’t find many pitching matchups in a minor league game with as much star power as Polar Park saw Wednesday night. Facing off against Houck for the Buffalo Bisons was future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, who was on a rehab assignment for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Besides both having pitched in the MLB All-Star Game, Houck and Scherzer are also both University of Missouri graduates.
“He’s a guy I’ve always looked up to being another Mizzou grad, he came back and talked to us a few times,” Houck said. “I have the privilege of working out with him in the offseason and just being around a competitor like that, it’s awesome. Such a great leader and mentor on and off the field and I feel like I learn a lot every time I talk to him.”
“I keep tabs on him and we talk shop as we’re training throughout the whole offseason,” Scherzer said. “I’ve gotten to know him pretty good.”
Scherzer threw 4.1 scoreless innings with one hit, two walks and eight strikeouts for Buffalo. He threw 75 pitches and left with one out in the bottom of the fifth to a standing ovation from the Polar Park crowd.
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