The Red Sox made their first trade ahead of Thursday’s MLB trade deadline, landing southpaw Steven Matz from the Cardinals in a deal St. Louis announced early Thursday morning.
The Cardinals received infielder Blaze Jordan, Boston’s No. 17 prospect, according to MLB.com’s prospect rankings.
Matz, 34, is in his 11th season in the majors and is now in a bullpen role after serving as a starter for most of his career.
He’s tallied 172 career starts with the Mets, Blue Jays and Cardinals, but has just two this season while appearing 30 times in relief.
Matz is 5-2 with an ERA of 3.44 and a 1.18 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) this season spanning 55 innings, while he’s posted a 3.91 ERA and held batters to a .711 OPS as a reliever.
He is in the final year of the four-year contract he signed with St. Louis.
To land Matz the Red Sox parted ways with a talented corner infield prospect in Jordan, who has ties to the Cardinals’ front office.
The 22-year-old touts a solid slash line of .298/.342/.480 in Triple-A, and owns a cumulative .872 OPS with 12 homers and 62 RBIs including his time in Double-A.
Cardinals pending president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who will take over following the 2025 season, selected Jordan in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft while he served as Boston’s top baseball executive from 2019-23 before being dismissed.
The Red Sox (59-51) fortified their bullpen in their attempt to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
They own the second wild card spot and sit in third in the AL East.
Boston could still use a starting pitcher and first baseman to bolster an intriguing roster.