TANNER HOUCK AND NELLIE CRUZ
At first blush, it would appear that Tanner Houck and Nelson Cruz have precious little in common.
They are both male.
They each play major league baseball.
But that’s about it.
They are 16 years apart; Houck is 25 and Cruz is 41.
And their respective teams — Boston and Tampa Bay — at this writing, are heading in opposite directions.
Fast.
So what’s the deal?
Why lump these two together?
A star to be.
And a star already made.
Tanner Houck is a star in the making.
You can just feel it.
Drafted by the Red Sox with the 24th overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Houck stands on the precipice of asserting himself as a vital contributor to a woefully beleaguered Sox starting rotation.
Last Thursday (08/12) against the first-place Rays in an eventual 8–1 loss, he was lights out until victimized by an unusual Wander Franco home run — Fenway Park’s legendary configurations at work — ultimately allowing three earned runs, while scattering six hits over 5 innings.
Praised manager Alex Cora, “Outstanding. He was really good. He lost [that] battle with Franco in the sixth inning but overall what we were expecting.
This guy is going to compete, he has great stuff and he’s going to give us a chance to win.”
Houck is no “Nuke” LaLoosh of Bull Durham infamy.
He listens.
And he learns.
“Just showing up and talking with guys like (Chris) Sale, (Nathan) Eovaldi, (Garrett) Richards, just guys that have been here a long time and pitched at this level for numerous years now…
It’s only going to help me in the long run.
Continuing to just kind of shut my mouth, open my ears, open my eyes, just watch what they do, listen to what they do and say, and just learning from them…
It’s ultimately what I think has been most enjoyable about being here and making these starts, is just being around those guys and learning from them.”
Tell me, how many 25-year-old phenoms think and act this way?
Good genes and good upbringing, I daresay.
During the COVID-delayed 2020 MLB season, Houck won his debut in a start against the Miami Marlins on September 15.
In that outing, Houck became only the fourth pitcher in Red Sox history to strike out seven or more batters and allow no runs in a big league debut.
(Eduardo Rodriguez — 2015 at Texas; Dave Morehead — 1963 at Washington; and Larry Pape — 1909 vs. Washington in Game 2 of a twinbill, are the others).
In his second start against the Yankees on September 20, Houck took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, exiting the game through 6, having held the Yanks to one hit and one unearned run.
Overall with the 2020 Sox, his line looked like this:
3 Games (all starts); 3–0 W-L; 0.53 ERA; 21 Ks/17 IP.
Following the 2020 campaign, Baseball America ranked Houck as the Red Sox #8 organizational prospect.
He’s even better than that.
Nelson Cruz has been in the big leagues since 2005 when he broke in with the Milwaukee Brewers.
He has worn five other major league uniforms and his 346 home runs in the 2010s were more than any other player.
A 7-time All-Star and a 4-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Cruz was named the ALCS MVP in 2011 when Texas won a six-game series against Detroit (4–2) to advance to the World Series, as he walloped 6 HRs and knocked in 13, both MLB records for a single postseason series.
The fact that he was selected in 2020 as both the Marvin Miller Man of the Year, and the ESPYs Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award winner, perhaps overshadows his 2013 50-game suspension imposed by MLB, for his involvement in the Biogenesis baseball scandal.
He led the majors in homers with 40 in 2014 as a member of the Orioles, and topped the AL with 119 RBI in 2017, while playing for Seattle, all as part of a most impressive career line through August 12, 2021:
BA: .278; Hits: 1,876; HRs: 440; and RBI: 1,212.
Tanner Houck is learning his craft and honing his skills.
He has a real chance to be great.
Nellie Cruz is putting the finishing touches on a stellar career (cheating allegations and penalties sullying some of it, but somehow, not indelibly smearing it).
He has been great.
And that is why they can be spoken about — together — in the same breath.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in August 2021.]
