So, there’s been a lot of talk about Tanner Houck this season and rightfully so. The man who has had excellent stuff but wasn’t putting it all together now feels like he’s fit all the puzzle pieces in place with super glue. To answer Dan from earlier in the month, I don’t think we need to talk about Houck becoming an ace anymore: he is the the ace. What we need to start talking about is Tanner Houck’s campaign for Cy Young recognition in 2024.
Combine the points of those two tweets. In the fourth most innings pitched in the Majors this season, Houck has the fifth lowest ERA, 10th lowest WHIP, and the lowest amount of homers allowed of any pitcher who’s tossed at least 80.0 innings. His slider continues to be one of the best pitches in baseball, with an wOBA of .204. What if I told you his split finger—which he’s used almost exclusively as a weapon against left-handed batters—has a wOBA of .203? 62 times pitched to RHB compared to 263 for LHB. That’s one of the major differences to me between 2024 Houck and the rest of his career.
His slider has always been a frisbee, being compared to Chris Sale since Houck’s first promotion to the big club, even earlier than that. Finding his put-away pitch for lefties means no one is safe from his arsenal now. I’m not the only one to have noticed this, Jacob Roy did a great job focusing on this change early in the season, it’s a great in-depth look at a change in grip and movement, as well as the simplification of Houck’s windup leading to better command. What defines both an ace and a competitor for Cy Young is consistency throughout the season. Houck hit his stride from the get-go and hasn’t stopped.
That’s not to say there isn’t a plateau, or at least the illusion of one. That’s where the eye test comes in.
Against the Phillies, Houck had at least one base runner on in five of his six frames pitched; his eight hits allowed that game is second most on the season so far. He only got seriously damaged in one of those innings, thanks to an extremely red hot Kyle Schwarber. In the second inning, he had runners on the corners and escaped the jam unscathed. How about against Milwaukee—best team in the NL Central, seven hits allowed, third most this season? Runners on the corners in the first inning, just watch the absolute filth he throws Jake Bauers:a