A busy week for right-handed pitchers Isaiah Campbell and Bryan Mata has ended with both remaining in the Red Sox organization after all.
Campbell and Mata have both re-signed with the Red Sox on minor league deals, sources said late Friday, after being designated for assignment and subsequently non-tendered by the club. Both players are no longer on the 40-man roster. They’ll be in major league spring training as non-roster invitees.
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The Sox designated Mata (their former top pitching prospect) and Campbell (a spring training star last year after an offseason trade) on Tuesday when they needed roster spots for prospects Hunter Dobbins and Jhostynxon Garcia. Earlier Friday, they non-tendered both, allowing them to become free agents, while losing lefty reliever Bailey Horn to the Tigers on a waiver claim. Boston remained interest in keeping both Campbell and Mata in the organization and was able to secure new deals with both players before they truly tested the open market. It’s possible both pitchers could draw some interest in next month’s Rule 5 draft.
If not, both pitchers should get looks for the Opening Day roster in the spring and can serve as depth pieces at Triple-A Worcester if they don’t make it. Mata, a 25-year-old with an electric pitch mix, is the more intriguing of the two. Formerly one of the top prospects in the organization after signing out of Venezuela in January 2016, the righty spent four years on the 40-man roster without making his major league debut. Constant injuries, with some inconsistent performance sprinkled in, derailed his rise to the big leagues, rendering him out of minor league options at the beginning of the 2024 season without him having ever debuted. Mata spent most of last year on the injured list with various ailments and compiled a 4.37 ERA in 22 ⅔ innings across four levels. He has been limited to just 49 ⅔ innings over the last two seasons in the minors.
Campbell, 27, was acquired from Seattle for infielder Luis Urías at last year’s non-tender deadline, then impressed enough in spring training to earn an Opening Day roster spot. He posted a 2.08 ERA through five outings to start the year, then had back-to-back blowups against the Orioles before being placed on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement on April 12. He made one more outing in the majors all season (June 24) and was limited by injuries to just 16 ⅓ innings at Triple-A, where he pitched well (2.20 ERA). In total, he posted a 16.20 ERA in 6 ⅔ big league frames.
