Tanner Houck is looking to build on an impressive 2024 season.

The Boston Red Sox made notable pitching staff improvements over the offseason. The Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet in one of the biggest trades of the offseason, and the Red Sox also signed Walker Buehler, who is looking to rebound after a rough 2024 season.

A returning cast member of Boston’s starting rotation is right-hander Tanner Houck. After multiple seasons of flipping back and forth between the bullpen and rotation without a dignified role — not to mention a few injury hiccups along the way — Houck had a career year in 2024. He was an American League All-Star and led the Red Sox pitching staff in several statistical categories.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s a great first step,” said Houck, via Ian Browne of MLB.com. “The job’s not done by any means … I know that last year was a great step forward in terms of my growth as a player, new career highs [in most categories] and everything, and I hope to do that again this year.”

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The Toronto Blue Jays drafted Houck out of high school in 2014. However, he elected to go to college at the University of Missouri rather than signing a professional contract. Flash forward to 2017: the Red Sox took Houck with their first-round pick of the 2017 MLB Draft. The Red Sox called up Houck in 2020, but it wasn’t until 2023 that Houck got his own spot in the rotation. The St. Louis, Missouri, native made 21 starts with a 5.01 ERA in 2023. Houck reached a new level in 2024.

Across a career-high 30 starts and 178 innings, Houck turned in a team-best 3.12 ERA. The righty’s 154 strikeouts and 1.14 WHIP were also personal bests, and he earned his first All-Star honor. Worth noting is that Houck threw a ‘Maddux’ in early April. A Maddux — short for Hall of Famer Greg Maddux — is a nine-inning complete game while throwing fewer than 100 pitches.

The Red Sox will open the 2025 regular season with a four-game series on the road against the Texas Rangers.