6:40pm
Red Sox
Tanner Houck (R)
1. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
4. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
5. Christian Vazquez (R) C
6. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF
7. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B
8. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B
9. Yairo Munoz (R) LF
Marlins
Sandy Alcantara (R)
1. Corey Dickerson (L) LF
2. Starling Marte (R) CF
3. Jesus Aguilar (R) 1B
4. Matt Joyce (L) RF
5. Brian Anderson (R) 3B
6. Garrett Cooper (R) DH
7. Miguel Rojas (R) SS
8. Jazz Chisholm (L) 2B
9. Jorge Alfaro (R) C
Gametime Temp: 83°F
Chance of Precip: 4%
Houck might be described as a tall, rangy pitcher, 6-5, 220. V
From the soxprospects site,
Mechanics: Throws from a low three-quarters arm slot. Utilizes a full wind up. Starts on the first base side of the rubber. Long arm action including elbow climb in the back and high leg kick. Cross-fire delivery is very tough on right-handed hitters. Gets good extension to the plate. Very quick arm. Unique delivery with a lot of effort, but it works for him. Has worked on staying squarer to the plate with very obvious improvements. Does struggle to repeat his delivery as he works deeper into games.
Fastball: 92-94 mph. Tops out at 98 mph. In college, he worked almost exclusively off a two-seam fastball regarded as among the best in the 2017 draft. In 2018, the organization attempted to work with Houck to instead rely primarily on a four-seam fastball, based in part on Trackman data, but he struggled in the first half of the year and returned midseason to primarily throwing the two-seam while mixing in the four-seam more often. Two-seam shows arm-side run and heavy sink down in the zone. Four-seam is routinely in the 95-97 mph range, but the pitch is straight and gets hit hard when in the zone. Below-average fastball command profile. Potential above-average pitch. May add a cutter eventually. Also throws a slider and recently a split fingered fastball.
Summation: Potential late-inning reliever, with a chance to develop into a back-end starter if his splitter develops to complement his slider and he refines his fastball command. Could also succeed in a multi-inning relief role. Will likely struggle to turn over a lineup of major league-quality hitters with his current pitch mix and mechanics. Arm slot and fastball-slider combination make him extremely difficult on right-handers, but his low arm slot and lack of a third pitch give him trouble against lefties. Splitter is a new addition to his arsenal, but it has shown potential against left-handed hitters, which will be vital to chances stick in the starting rotation. Has the size and demeanor you look for in a pitcher; able to bear down when necessary.
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on September 14, 2020, 07:54:05 PM
Houck might be described as a tall, rangy pitcher, 6-5, 220. V
From the soxprospects site,
Mechanics: Throws from a low three-quarters arm slot. Utilizes a full wind up. Starts on the first base side of the rubber. Long arm action including elbow climb in the back and high leg kick. Cross-fire delivery is very tough on right-handed hitters. Gets good extension to the plate. Very quick arm. Unique delivery with a lot of effort, but it works for him. Has worked on staying squarer to the plate with very obvious improvements. Does struggle to repeat his delivery as he works deeper into games.
Fastball: 92-94 mph. Tops out at 98 mph. In college, he worked almost exclusively off a two-seam fastball regarded as among the best in the 2017 draft. In 2018, the organization attempted to work with Houck to instead rely primarily on a four-seam fastball, based in part on Trackman data, but he struggled in the first half of the year and returned midseason to primarily throwing the two-seam while mixing in the four-seam more often. Two-seam shows arm-side run and heavy sink down in the zone. Four-seam is routinely in the 95-97 mph range, but the pitch is straight and gets hit hard when in the zone. Below-average fastball command profile. Potential above-average pitch. May add a cutter eventually. Also throws a slider and recently a split fingered fastball.
Summation: Potential late-inning reliever, with a chance to develop into a back-end starter if his splitter develops to complement his slider and he refines his fastball command. Could also succeed in a multi-inning relief role. Will likely struggle to turn over a lineup of major league-quality hitters with his current pitch mix and mechanics. Arm slot and fastball-slider combination make him extremely difficult on right-handers, but his low arm slot and lack of a third pitch give him trouble against lefties. Splitter is a new addition to his arsenal, but it has shown potential against left-handed hitters, which will be vital to chances stick in the starting rotation. Has the size and demeanor you look for in a pitcher; able to bear down when necessary.
All in all from your description this guy isn't someone who is going to whet our appetite for the time he next toes the rubber for us/ We've had a lot of these pitching "prospects" screw up royally for us for the ast 18 years. Maybe he will surprise us pleasantly. Maybe just as likely he won't. Let's see what he does tomorrow.
Love that Roenicke doesn't even seem to be able to make out the lineup by a reasonable time either. Seems like they are released far later than in past years.
Quote from: longgame on September 15, 2020, 02:57:12 PM
Love that Roenicke doesn't even seem to be able to make out the lineup by a reasonable time either. Seems like they are released far later than in past years.
Ted, my friends here have been subjected to a plethora of miserable events this short season and it hasn't helped that the manager, instead of taking the lead and trying his best to comfort the team and its fans through this trying time, is just pouring hot kerosine on the fire. I will admit you seem to be taking it a little better than I am but I would think all of us are a little overwrought from what has happened during the pandemic and the fact that we're gotten no sunshine at all as a consolation from our team. I just wonder how long it will be before the Red Soxare the Red Sox again and not the pack of frauds we've seen the past seven weeks, when we will get a manager worthy of the name, and just what kind of commitment John Henry plans on making for the 2021 season.
Fred, today I'm a company man, tomorrow who knows!! But if you believe Bloom, he is gonna be active in the FA and trade market this offseason. I think they have about $50 mil, maybe more to do the dealing.
For pitching Eovaldi might go to the pen. That leaves Perez, ERod, Pivetta, and Sale on rehab (June?). They need a solid top end like a Bauer and a backend guy. An elite closer is a must. A trade might happen (Beni? Vaz? Chavis?). Whatever, lots of new faces in '21. But like you say, Henry needs to get focused, like in a couple weeks.
Houck gets out of the 1st on 9 pitches. One single, one K. Can he replicate that?
Tanner got out of the 4th with a strikeout, his seventh. Along with 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks. After 70 or so pitches Id be surprised if his night is not done.
Nice debut by Houck. 5 innings and 2 hits with 7 k's.
Yikes. Meatball Matt gets the save with some drama.
Tonight Houck's debut was impressive. I didn't like the three walks but sure as hell liked the seven strikeouts and only two hits in five innings. That he got the win too was good. Perhaps he should have been brought up sooner but better late than never. I hope he can replicate his performance in his next couple of starts because it would be nice to know that we may have a pitcher home grown who can help us get back our winning ways. Tonight was encouraging.
Decent at best .Will see what happens next against the Yanks and beyond.
Houck was solid for his first MLB appearance. More solid than anyone else we've seen come up in some time.
Bloom said pitching is an offseason priority. He needs to deliver.
Heck we can use Houck and I think Pivetta pitches next week. When the season started in July, the Sox had a landslide of pitchers, mostly horrible pitchers. But at least most, except ERod, were healthy.
But since Aug. 29 (just 2 ½ weeks ago), eight pitchers hit the IL with various injuries. They are: Nathan Eovaldi (right calf strain on Aug. 29), Darwinzon Hernandez (sprained left SC joint on Aug. 31), Kyle Hart (left hip inpingement on Sept. 2), Colten Brewer (right third finger strain on Sept. 3), Austin Brice (right lat strain on Sept. 10), Zack Godley (right elbow flexor strain on Sept. 10), Josh Taylor (left shoulder tendinitis on Sept. 11) and righty Andrew Triggs (right radial nerve irritation. Brewer, Triggs and Taylor are done for the year
Quote from: SeaBeachFred on September 15, 2020, 10:17:59 PM
Tonight Houck's debut was impressive. I didn't like the three walks but sure as hell liked the seven strikeouts and only two hits in five innings. That he got the win too was good. Perhaps he should have been brought up sooner but better late than never. I hope he can replicate his performance in his next couple of starts because it would be nice to know that we may have a pitcher home grown who can help us get back our winning ways. Tonight was encouraging.
BILL-806 concurs ..... Next stop , H O F !!!!!!! thumb_u thumb_u iono iono iono rofl rofl rofl rofl
Obviously Bloom still has to focus on rebuilding the pitching corps from starters to closers. One can not reasonably expect Sale to be ready before July. Besides pitchers Bloom will need a second baseman and possibly one more outfielder. After the way JDM has been playing I do not see him opting out unless he is extremely foolish.
It seems there is a little more life on the board today than the past few weeks. Even our friend Murph has rejoined us. I think what we need is to finish up this truncated season on at least a semi-solid not, perh aps winning a majority of the games left and seeing guys like Houck and maybe Mata show up as pitchers who we think might just be able to do the job for us. Red Sox fans have gone through hell this season watching the plethora of stiffs go out there and get their asses reamed on the mound. I think a reversal of that would at least let us go into winter quarters with some hope for next season. I do believe we need a top notch starter and closer for next season as top priorities. The guy from Cincy is the one I want.
For once they looked like a professional baseball team. A small shred of hope for the future.
I've said it before, Verdugo has been fun to watch. Dalbec hints at being a very exciting player. Houck was a joy to watch last night and we can only hope he can do well (remember Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter in his second start!). Players like Devers will benefit from actual coaching being performed. Hopefully that will be the answer for Beni and Chavis too.