BOSTON -- The Red Sox on Thursday added a reliever to their roster with a wealth of Major League experience and a changeup that has long been considered one of the best in the game.
That would be righty Tommy Kahnle, who signed a Minor League deal with Boston that included an invitation to Spring Training back on March 19.
Kahnle had his contract selected from Triple-A Worcester as lefty Tyler Samaniego was optioned to Worcester. The Red Sox transferred Trevor Story to the 60-day IL to add Kahnle to the 40-man roster.
Kahnle, 36, was poised to exercise an opt-out he had in his contract this week if he wasn’t called up. The Red Sox, in fact, did call him up, adding a righty to a bullpen that has been lefty heavy for much of the season.
The veteran was thrown right into the mix, pitching two scoreless innings (two hits, two walks, one strikeout) in a matinee 8-2 loss to the Orioles at Fenway Park.
“Exhausting. It’s hot out. I knew that I had to kind of eat some innings, especially to help the bullpen out,” Kahnle said. “It was fun to get it back out there. So I felt like it was OK, but it was cool. It's been a while since I’ve been in a big league stadium again. So it was nice to get back out there.”
The move has an interesting timing element: The Red Sox open a three-game series in New York against the Yankees on Friday. Kahnle had two separate stints with the Yankees totaling parts of six seasons, including the team’s AL pennant-winning season of 2024.
“I had a feeling,” Kahnle said. “I looked at the schedule and I went, ‘of course.’ But, it's going to be the same thing. This time I'll be on the opposite side of this rivalry. So I'm pretty excited to see that.”
Interim manager Chad Tracy managed Kahnle earlier this season at Triple-A Worcester before he took over for Alex Cora on April 26.
“Yeah, he did great down there,” said Tracy. “I think I've said a bunch, with a guy like that, you also know the history and the big innings, late innings, leverage innings that he's thrown the big leagues already. So the changeup’s always been a factor, and he can handle both right and left, so it's a good option to have.”
Over 11 seasons and 456 appearances (all in relief), Kahnle has a 3.61 ERA.
Kahnle’s changeup has always been his biggest weapon. Tracy said he was working on his fastball earlier this season.
“But I think he's made a career of throwing that [changeup] for a long time, and people often know it's coming,” Tracy said. “It's a good enough pitch to get people out, but in a setting like the Minor Leagues, if you can work on a couple things that you feel like you have a go-to in the middle of an outing, then that's nothing wrong with that either.”