Tanner Houck’s role unclear as Red Sox tab Richard Fitts for rotation

It s an uncomfortable thing being the player brought up to replace a teammate who s just suffered a season-ending injury It s certainly not how Red Sox right-hander Richard Fitts requested to get back to Boston It sucked to see Hunter Dobbins go down last night Fitts narrated the Herald on Saturday moments after Dobbins fielded questions about his right ACL tear It s not how I want to be back by any means Fitts picked up his long-awaited first MLB win Monday night only to be optioned the following day The Red Sox craved to add reliever Isaiah Campbell to the bullpen before the next turn in the rotation came up On Friday they optioned Campbell and activated Dobbins from the injured list Hours later he exited his start after just innings On Saturday Fitts was back I m excited to be back It does suck for the circumstances but that s what being a rookie in this league is like too he disclosed The options are a part of it and I m trying to maximize the time up here Fitts who made four starts for the Red Sox in a memorable late-season debut last fall owns a ERA through eight big-league starts this season he missed over a month with a right pectoral strain in mid-May Yet with the exception of a five-earned run blip on June he s allowed no more than three earned runs in any outing Over his last three starts he s yielded a combined five earned runs in innings I think I m in a good spot the righty mentioned I m disappointed in a sense of where I thought that I was going to be at the beginning of the season just because of my injury but in a sense of pure stuff and how my body feels right now I feel like I m in a good spot After being a self-professed three-pitch guy last year Fitts arrived at spring training with one of the the bulk expansive pitch mixes on the staff It feels like I have six weapons that I can use four-seam fastball two-seam fastball changeup gyro slider sweeper and curveball he explained the Herald during spring training Now more than halfway through the season slate his changeup use has tapered off a little bit even though he noted the pitch felt good when he began throwing it after his injury The curveball sweeper and slider have been great for me the sinker s been great he assessed With the changeup just in a sense of why throw another pitch when the slider s working well Why throw what would be considered one of my not-as-good pitches if I have a better option So at the end of the challenge it s like Oh crap I didn t even throw a single changeup I still think it s a good pitch but just need certain practice with it I just want to help the unit I want to do everything that I can and I think I m in a good spot development-wise and health-wise too Presently that means moving to the bullpen something Fitts did a little bit in college That s a very short-term plan though as only two games stand between the Red Sox and the All-Star break We ll set up the rotation after the break allegedly with him in mind declared manager Alex Cora What about Tanner Houck Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have been cagey about Tanner Houck s path forward The All-Star has been on the -day injured list with a right flexor pronator strain for nearly two months May retroactive to May His -day rehab allowance expires Thursday the day before the Red Sox and Cubs open the second half in Chicago Houck s season has been a stunner He was the ace of Boston s rotation last year posting a ERA over a career-high starts including a complete-game shutout Through nine starts this year his ERA sits at a towering with earned runs including homers in just innings He only exceeded five innings of work in four outings and allowed multiple earned runs seven times including a pair of -run blowouts in Tampa April and Detroit May He s in the equation mentioned Cora who noted that Kyle Harrison the lefty from the Rafael Devers pact is also on the table But like I mentioned I think Fitts is the one that will jump into the rotation The Red Sox have discussed moving Houck to the bullpen He also has options remaining so they could opt to have him work in Triple-A We re trying to understand what part of the performance was driven by vitality Breslow stated the Herald Houck is obviously a really fundamental piece of this organization he was an All-Star last year and he is trying as hard as anybody to get back on track Another idea Breslow floated would be using an opener for Houck Using an opener coming out of the pen might just change the setting enough that it just gives him a different mentality the executive a former Red Sox reliever explained I think there s something about pitching out of the pen where you kind of feel like your job is now to attack the strike zone throw your best stuff go right after hitters And seeing if just that different type of mentality helps the performance and then assuming that it does we can then figure out where the best place is for him I still think obviously he s been a really good starting pitcher in the big leagues and that s in there but we ll balance what s best for Tanner with what s best for our squad in the short-term