The Red Sox bullpen is a little bit better this morning.
The Red Sox made their first significant move since the Rafael Devers trade last month by dealing Blaze Jordan (the 19th ranked prospect in the system according to Sox Prospects) for lefty reliever Steven Matz.
The St. Louis Cardinals are receiving first baseman Blaze Jordan from the Boston Red Sox in the deal for Steven Matz, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2025
Matz has spent most of his career as a middle of the road starter, but as a veteran he’s quietly transitioned into a solid but not spectacular bullpen depth piece in 2025. For the season, he’s sporting a 3.44 ERA, but an even better FIP at 2.87 as he’s done a good job of limiting home runs and walks.
One thing not to be excited about is his -0.68 WPA, which is the worst of all pitchers on the Cardinals roster this season with at least 20 innings pitched. In fact, Matz has a negative WPA in seven of his last nine seasons. Since the start of 2017, of the 906 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched, Matz has a worse WPA than 866 of them. In other words, he’s been worse than 95.6% of pitchers in baseball in this department. Hold your breath when he comes into the game in a big spot!
Nevertheless, he will add help to a Sox pen that’s been overworked all year thanks to some early struggles from the rotation and a litany of lengthy, close games all season. It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox negotiate their roster after this move since Matz is left handed and they already have Aroldis Chapman, Brennan Bernadino, Chris Murphy, and Justin Wilson from the left side out of this pen.
On the departing side, Blaze Jordan was a fan favorite in some circles as has opened up about his mental health during his journey through the Sox system and always possessed intriguing power potential. But nothing was guaranteed for him as a major leaguer, he was a Rule 5 guy this fall, and his best fits position wise seems blocked on this roster (they better be extending Alex Bregman!). Therefore, he became exactly the kind of player vulnerable to get traded in a moment like this. (Plus Chaim Bloom who drafted Jordan probably wanted him back.)
Jordan played exactly 44 games for both Portland and Worcester this season, and posted a .328 / .415 / .513 (.928 OPS) line in Double-A and a .298 / .341 / .480 (.820 OPS) in Triple-A.
For the Red Sox and this deadline, this works as an appetizer, but it certainly won’t due for an entree. A No. 2 starter better be on the menu later today!