The Red Sox are signing left-hander Matt Dermody to a minor league contract, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). He’ll get a crack in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.
Dermody, 32, has pitched in parts of four MLB campaigns. He got the briefest of looks last season, making one appearance for the Cubs in August. He’d also had a lone outing for Chicago back in 2020, with his only extended work 22 1/3 frames for the 2017 Blue Jays. The Iowa native has a 5.60 ERA over 27 1/3 big league innings.
A reliever for the majority of his career, Dermody picked up 13 starts in 20 outings for the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa last season. He threw 79 1/3 innings with a 3.74 ERA in a hitter-friendly league. His 20.3% strikeout percentage was modest, but Dermody picked up grounders on a bit more than half the balls in play. He also showed excellent control, only handing out free passes to 5.2% of batters faced.
Late in the 2022 campaign, Dermody landed with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization. He made eight starts there but got hit to a 4.54 ERA over 39 2/3 frames. He struck out 20.7% of batters faced against a 7.3% walk rate. After a brief sojourn to South Korea, he’ll return to the affiliated ranks and look to pitch his way back to the big leagues in Boston.
Dermody can offer the Sox some depth for both the rotation or bullpen. He’s more likely to eventually crack the MLB roster in a relief capacity. The Sox watched Matt Strahm depart in free agency and have dealt away Darwinzon Hernández and Josh Taylor this offseason.
Joely Rodríguez is the only lock for left-handed relief work to start the season. Prospects Brandon Walter and Chris Murphy are each on the 40-man roster and have topped out at Triple-A Worcester. They’ve both worked as starters in the minors but could theoretically break into the big leagues as relief options. The Sox also added Ryan Sherriff as a non-roster Spring Training invitee over the weekend.