 The 1955 Cleveland Indians season originally planned to use Houtteman as the number four pitcher on the starting rotation, as he had been the previous year.He saw himself remaining the fourth starter, and said, "Herb Score won't beat me out of the fourth starting job with the Indians" on April 11.However, he became a spot starter, as he lost his starting position to Score, the "most talked-about rookie in all the major league training camps".