ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rays added veteran stability to their pitching staff on Tuesday, agreeing to terms with left-hander Steven Matz on a two-year contract. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the club designated outfielder Tristan Peters for assignment.
Matz, 34, arrives in Tampa Bay following a standout 2025 campaign where he reinvented himself as a reliable multi-inning weapon. Splitting time between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, Matz posted a 5-2 record with a 3.05 ERA across a career-high 53 appearances. While he has spent the vast majority of his 11-year career as a starter, he flourished in a relief-heavy role last season, making only two starts while notching two saves.
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Control was the defining metric of Matz’s 2025 season. Among major league pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched, his 3.6 percent walk rate was the fourth-lowest in baseball, trailing only Brandon Walter, Tyler Rogers, and Janson Junk. That elite command contributed to a career-best 1.10 WHIP over 76.2 innings.
The Rays are acquiring a pitcher who seemed to find another gear late in the year. After reaching 10 years of major league service time in June, Matz was dealt to Boston at the trade deadline for infielder Blaze Jordan.
He was dominant down the stretch for the Red Sox, pitching to a stellar 2.08 ERA in 21 games and issuing just two walks. He also returned to the postseason stage for the first time since 2015, tossing two scoreless innings against the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Series.
Originally a second-round pick by the New York Mets in 2009 out of Ward Melville High School in New York, Matz owns a career 60-62 record with a 4.19 ERA. Over 11 seasons, he has logged more than 1,000 innings between stints with the Mets, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Red Sox.
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