Left-hander Steven Matz is heading to the Rays’ bullpen, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran failed to escape the second inning on Tuesday against the Tigers. Matz has allowed a dozen runs across 8 2/3 innings since coming off the IL in mid-May.
Matz signed a two-year, $15MM deal with the Rays in December. His tenure in Tampa Bay was off to a decent start before elbow inflammation cost him a few weeks. The lefty posted a 3.86 ERA through his first seven appearances. A 4.55 SIERA suggested he was due for regression, but he was delivering solid innings at the back end of Tampa Bay’s rotation.
The elbow injury popped up out of nowhere, as Matz was coming off back-to-back quality starts. His velocity has been fine after rejoining the team, but his Stuff+ has slipped from 98 to 91. Matz has seen his swinging-strike rate drop by more than 3% in three outings since his IL stint.
After operating almost exclusively as a starter with the Mets and Blue Jays, Matz has picked up ample experience as a reliever in recent seasons. He worked in a swingman role for multiple years with the Cardinals. Matz made 53 appearances between St. Louis and Boston in 2025, all but two of which came as a reliever. His pair of starts came in April with the Cardinals. Matz functioned as a traditional one-inning reliever after being dealt to the Red Sox.
Tampa Bay relied on a combination of Griffin Jax, Mason Englert, and Jesse Scholtens to cover two rotation spots during Matz’s IL stint. Jax has now been fully stretched out as a starter. Scholtens is down with a wrist injury, and Englert missed time with a forearm issue. The latter is now back with the big-league club. Englert covered five innings and tossed a season-high 82 pitches in relief of Nick Martinez on Wednesday. He’s expected to step into Matz’s rotation spot, possibly as a bulk reliever, per Topkin.
Matz was due to start on Monday against Boston. The move to the bullpen is “not by any stretch permanent,” manager Kevin Cash said, relayed by Topkin. A six-man rotation later in the season could make sense as a way to limit innings for Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen, who have extensive injury histories. Jax is also working as a starter for the first time since 2021 and is on pace to set a career high in innings.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
