BOSTON — Chris Sale and mental skills coordinator Rey Fuentes were chatting and Fuentes pointed out how Tanner Houck has a similar breaking ball to Sale’s.
“No, no, no, no. My breaking ball is similar to his,’” Sale told Fuentes.
Sale thinks Houck has a better slider than he does.
“I don’t know what the spin and axis and all the other numbers are, but I know it’s a true power pitch,” Sale said. “He throws it 6-8 mph harder than mine. Mine is more of a curveball from a lower arm slot. His is a true, hard power pitch.”
Houck will pitch Saturday at Fenway Park against the Cleveland Indians. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Cleveland last Sunday but the bullpen struggled and Boston lost 7-5.
The righty enters today with a 3.63 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 1.21 WHIP and 55 strikeouts in 11 outings (nine starts). He has averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 2.4 walks (44 ⅔ innings).
Houck has done nothing but impress Sale both on and off the field.
Houck’s slider has averaged 84.1 mph this season, according to Baseball Savant. Sale’s slider has averaged 78.5 mph this year. It averaged 79 mph in 2019 and 79.7 mph in 2018.
Opponents are 10-for-51 (.196 batting average) with a .151 expected batting average, .255 slugging percentage and .194 expected slugging percentage against Houck’s slider. They have just three extra-base hits (all doubles) against it.
Sale said Houck “has a special way of pitching” and “an unbelievable ability to sink the ball.”
“I can’t sink the ball to save my life,” Sale said. “I’ve got ride on my fastball. I’ve got a good enough changeup and a good slider. The thing that he has is he’s got the ride fastball that I do but he’s got a sinker that looks like a splitter.”
Sale lauded Houck’s ability to manipulate the ball both ways when throwing it.
“It’s not common,” Sale said.
Houck and Sale also share similar deliveries.
Rob Friedman, better known on Twitter as PitchingNinja, last year posted a video comparing Houck’s delivery to Sale’s. For a better look, Friedman reversed Houck to show what his delivery would look like left-handed. See the video here.
Houck was struggling with his delivery during spring training but had an “aha moment” when he watched Sale throw one day. Houck had stopped to watch Sale on the agility field before pitching in a spring training game.
Sale also is impressed with Houck’s maturity in handling his back-and-forth to Worcester situation. The Red Sox have optioned Houck to Triple-A Worcester six times during the regular season.
“He could not have handled it any better,” Sale said. “He showed up, threw the ball with everything he had.”
Sale said every time the Red Sox optioned Houck, he entered the manager’s office and said, “I completely understand. You let me know when you need me again.”
“He was really professional about that,” Sale said. “And that’s not something you easily grasp. You know what I mean? Like, ‘Oh shit, I threw good today. Why can’t I stay? I’ve got a good arm. I should be here.’ And that’s almost as impressive.”
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