Tanner Time Returns to Texas
Just like Jarren “MVP” Duran, Tanner Houck is returning to Arlington, Texas for the first time since appearing in the All-Star Game. While Tanner Time was in more of an ordinary world than Duran and didn’t bring home any hardware, he’s got a start tonight to show Texas Rangers fans what he can really do.
Houck headed into the All-Star Break with a strong 6-inning effort against the Oakland A’s but struggled out the gate against the Colorado Rockies. Any time you pitch in Denver it’s a roll of the dice. His encore was a start against the Yankees. The Sox would drop this one to NY, although Houck himself would only allow 4 runs (3 earned). Again, you can say “the Yankees have some big bat.” Fair enough. Houk’s 106 innings from 2023 have already been exceeded at he closed on 140 at the start of August with, potentially, a start in October in the mix. Is he in a run of bad luck or has some exhaustion set in?
The Rangers send a southpaw, Cody Bradford, against Boston tonight. The 26-year-old is thrown back into the rotation with Jon Grey and Max Scherzer sidelined. A swing man, he made 8 starts in 2023 out of 20 appearances. This season he made three starts in March/April, spent some time on the IL, and was knocked around in his return on July 30 in relief. His 3.38 ERA/3.04 FIP included 5 runs in two innings earlier this week. But his rookie year numbers included an ERA of 5.30/4.68 FIP.
The Red Sox will use their new-look lefty mashing lineup including Connor Wong, Danny Jansen, and Rob Refsnyder all hitting.
First pitch is at 7:05 PM ET on WEEI and NESN.