The Boston Red Sox are currently in “the market for left-handed relievers”, according to Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo adds how the Red Sox are in particular looking at lefty relievers “such as Danny Coulombe, Tim Mayza, and Cionel Perez.”
Coulombe Is The Best Name Mentioned In This Report
The best arm out of all these names listed by Cotillo is Coulombe, who posted a 2.30 ERA in 2025 between the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. Coulombe, age 36, was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Texas Rangers at the 2025 MLB trade deadline, but struggled for the club, in which he posted a 5.25 ERA and 6.64 FIP in 15 appearances and 12 innings pitched for the Rangers. This was a stark contrast to his first half, with a 1.16 ERA and 2.01 FIP in 31 innings for the Twins earlier in the 2025 season.
Cionel Perez, is another name listed, who’s a bit younger than the other names mentioned, 29 years old, but has struggled his previous two big league seasons in 2024 and 2025, most notably in 2025 where he posted a 8.31 ERA and saw an increase in his walk rate (16.4 percent) and hasn’t had a ton of success at generating much swing and miss against opposing hitters, however, the one upside is he’s excellent at inducing ground balls, with a 60.9 percent ground ball rate in 2025, according to Baseball Savant.
He’s also a five-pitch pitcher, heavily relying on a sinker to induce ground balls, but also throws a slider, 4-seam fastball, slurve, and cutter. With his age and some of his underlying metrics, it’s interesting to see the Red Sox showing interest in this free agent left handed relief pitcher, because despite his struggles, there’s some underlying metrics/peripherals, especially related to his ground ball rate and pitch mix, and still relatively young age, that teams such as the Red Sox could very much like.
Red Sox Looking At Relievers Who Can Generate Ground Balls
Tim Mayza is the third left-handed reliever mentioned in this report. He’s a guy who is currently 33 years old, a veteran lefty who’s had up and down years, but did have some success this past year with split time between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates, in which he posted a 3.78 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched. He’s an interesting name because he’s a guy who won’t overwhelm you in terms of stuff, doesn’t throw very hard. Still, he can generate a lot of ground balls, a 53.8% ground ball rate in 2025, as well as get good extension on his pitches and limit walks, according to Baseball Savant.
He’s a player you look at and, in terms of his profile, along with Perez, can help the Red Sox as it relates to generating more contact on the ground in a more hitter-friendly ballpark in Fenway.
Looking at such numbers, the Red Sox are trying to find potential hidden value they can unlock with one of these lefty relievers in their bullpen. They have one dominant left-handed reliever already in closer Aroldis Chapman, as well as left-hander Payton Tolle, who pitched some time out of the Red Sox pen as a rookie last year, but they could use another left-hander in the bullpen.
Boston Needs Another Left-Handed Relief Pitcher In The Bullpen
The only current regular lefty in that bullpen is Aroldis Chapman. The rest are right-handed, and as it pertains to pitcher match-ups and reverse splits, you would want a reliever or two in your bullpen that isn’t your closer to favor well in those reverse split and pitcher matchup situations against the opposing teams that the manager and organization strategize and plan for throughout the regular season.
The Red Sox have made several additions to this club in 2026 by trading for Sonny Gray and then Wilson Contreras from the Cardinals, as well as acquiring right-hander Johan Oviedo in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Still, they need more, especially from their bullpen in 2026, if they want to be legitimate contenders in an already stacked American League East Division.
Red Sox In The Market For Left Handed Relief Pitching