Cora: People need to start 'paying attention' to Houck
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora believes people need to start paying more attention to right-hander Tanner Houck, who's having a Cy Young-caliber season.
"It's really good, and I don't think people are paying attention to it," Cora said after Houck's impressive outing against the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
"He went seven today and it was like, 'OK, cool.' He's one of the best pitchers in the big leagues. Every outing, he's giving us a chance to win. Changing speeds, throwing strikes with his split. Lefties, righties, it really doesn't matter right now."
Houck leads MLB pitchers in fWAR and home runs allowed per nine innings while ranking top five in ERA, FIP, innings pitched, and ground-ball percentage.
The hurler, who has had tremendous success with his off-speed offerings - opponents are hitting .179 against his slider and .176 against his split finger - has allowed one run or fewer in four consecutive outings.
It's been a tremendous turnaround for Houck under the guidance of new pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Houck owned a 5.01 ERA during 21 starts last season, which was his first as a full-time starter in the big leagues.
"I hope people start paying attention to what's going on," Cora said.
The Red Sox enter Saturday at 29-29, good for third place in the AL East.