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 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.
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.”