Former Collinsville Student Continues Impressive Baseball Career, Could See Majors Soon

By Anthony Jones, Reporter

A former Collinsville Kahok has been promoted to his team’s AAA affiliate and may even receive another call up before the year’s end. Tanner Houck is twenty three year old who is signed with the Boston Red Sox and currently plays for their Pawtucket affiliate.

Prior to this year, he had always played the role of a starting pitcher, but he has been moved to the bullpen to take on a reliever role. It is a possibility that he could be called up to Boston due to their struggling bullpen.

Another cause for a potential call up is that the defending World Series Champions are in the midst of a tough battle for a playoff spot, which they currently are five and a half games out of so they are more likely to make roster changes.

Houck was a graduate of Collinsville High School in 2014, and he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays that year in the twelfth round. He elected to go to a university instead and he chose to continue playing for the University of Missouri. For fifteen games his freshman year, Houck was a starter. After that season was over he played for the U.S. National Collegiate Baseball Team.

While competing with them, he took part in a combined no-hitter with two other teammates against Cuba. Following another strong year on the mound as a sophomore, Houck was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the twenty fourth overall pick in the MLB Draft.

The former Kahok spent 2017 with the club’s short season A affiliate. 2018 saw him move to the Advanced A team. At the beginning of 2019, Houck found himself with the AA Sea Dogs befire he was called up to the AAA Red Sox in Pawtucket. In total, he has played fifty seven games in the Minor Leagues and he has started in forty eight of those contests.

In his high school days, Houck also dabbled in basketball for the Kahoks.