The Tampa Bay Rays have signed their second key free agent in a week. Following the signing of outfielder Cedric Mullins of Greensboro, North Carolina to a one-year deal worth $7 million on Saturday, the Rays signed pitcher Steven Matz of Stony Brook, New York to a two-year contract worth $15 million, according to Theo DeRosa and Adam Berry of mlb.com, on Tuesday.
Matz is joining his fifth MLB franchise. He was previously with the New York Mets for six seasons from 2015 to 2020, the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, the St. Louis Cardinals for three full seasons from 2022 to 2024, before sharing last season with the Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.
After being used as a starter for the majority of his MLB career, Matz was used mostly as a reliever with the Cardinals and Red Sox last season, and was very productive. In 53 games, Matz had a record of five wins and two losses with an earned run average of 3.05. In 76 2/3 innings pitched, Matz had two saves, 13 holds, 59 strikeouts, and gave up 73 hits, 26 earned runs, eight home runs, and 11 walks, to go along with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.10.
Matz’s first save was in his first appearance of 2025. It was a unique one in a 9-2 Cardinals win over the Minnesota Twins on March 30, 2025. Matz threw four shutout innings and only gave up a single hit. He then picked up his second save of the season on August 28 in a much closer contest. Matz pitched two shutout innings in a 3-2 Red Sox win over the Baltimore Orioles.
