10:04 PM: The Rays make a deal with a free agent left-hander Steven Matzreports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. The deal is still awaiting a physical.
Matz spent the 2025 season working out of the bullpen. The 11-year big league veteran split the season between the Cardinals and Red Sox. He combined for 76 2/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball. Matz has a long background as a starter, only working in a swing role with St. Louis until 2024. He could compete for a rotation spot or work out of Kevin Cash’s bullpen for multiple innings.
Matz, 34, just completed a four-year, $44 million free agent deal he signed with St. Louis. The signing didn’t really go as the Cardinals had planned. Matz had a hard time staying healthy. He missed most of the 2022 season due to a shoulder impingement. A lat strain put him on the shelf for the second half of the following season, and a lower back injury ruined much of 2024.
Matz combined for just 197 1/3 innings over the first three seasons of that contract. He posted a 4.47 ERA with a slightly below-average strikeout rate of 21.9%. The Cards only gave him a few spots this year. He still often worked a second inning out of the bullpen, but didn’t get as big of a workload. Matz managed to stay healthy and had perhaps his best season since 2021.
Through his first 55 innings, the southpaw delivered a 3.44 earned run average while striking out 20.7% of batters. The Cards dealt him to Boston at the deadline. His already mediocre strikeout rate dropped another six points with the Red Sox, though he managed to outscore his peripheral players with a 2.08 ERA over 21 2/3 innings. Matz was among the bottom 10 relievers (minimum 50 innings) with a swinging strike rate of 7.8%. He accomplished this with excellent control, issuing walks at a career-low clip of 3.6%. He pitched exceptionally well as a specialist, holding left-handed hitters to a .211/.242/.341 batting line in 129 at-bats.
Tampa Bay has a few power lefty relievers coming in Garrett Cleavering And Mason Montgomery. Cleavinger is quietly one of the best in the game. Montgomery has what it takes to be an impact arm, but his control remains a major question. Montgomery still has a few minor league options and can bounce between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham. Matz looks different as a control specialist, but has decent speed, averaging 94.5 MPH on his sinker.
There’s more to come.
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