Pitcher Switcheroo: Red Sox Scratch Tanner Houck Ahead Of Pivotal Yankees Game

The Boston Red Sox were ready to hand the ball to Tanner Houck on Friday night in a pivotal road game against the New York Yankees.

But Houck, who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 4 and had his start pushed back to Friday after dealing with what Alex Cora described as dead arm, was scratched from his start less than an hour before first pitch at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox announced Houck was scratched due to right shoulder fatigue.

It was a good thing the Red Sox had an extra starting pitcher on the active roster they could turn to as Richard Fitts will toe the rubber for his second career MLB start.

Houck hasn’t looked the same over the second half of the season after making the first All-Star appearance of his career. The veteran right-hander is 0-4 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.462 WHIP across nine starts since the All-Star break.

It’s clear he’s worn down by the biggest workload of his career. Houck has tossed a career-high 169 2/3 innings this season, which far exceeds the 106 frames he threw in 2023.

Fitts, who is ranked as the No. 13 prospect in Boston’s farm system by MLB Pipeline, made his MLB debut this past Sunday against the Chicago White Sox. He performed well by tossing 5 2/3 innings and allowed no earned runs and six hits while walking one and striking out two.

It will be an interesting wrinkle for Fitts to face the Yankees, since they are the organization that drafted the 24-year-old right-hander in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. The Yankees traded Fitts along with two other pitchers to the Red Sox this offseason for Alex Verdugo, who will bat ninth in New York’s lineup.