After a series of decisions at the end of the 2025 season, the Red Sox quickly went from a plethora to a dearth of left-handed pitchers, almost overnight. Justin Wilson, who spent a year in Boston, and Steven
Matz, who was acquired at the trade deadline, were both free agents at season’s end. Then, at the non-tender deadline, when the roster needed to be trimmed to 40 men, the Red Sox traded multiple left-handed relievers. Chris Murphy was sent to the White Sox, and Brennan Bernardino to the Rockies. Three minor league pitchers were protected from Rule 5 on that date, one of which is a lefty, Shane Drohan.
After this slew of moves, the team went from having a bullpen with an even split of lefty vs. righty arms to lefty relief being a “need” going into 2026. To start, let’s review who is currently on the 40-man roster:
Aroldis Chapman is a left-handed reliever, and, in his case, if you have a 30.7 K-BB% it really doesn’t matter what arm you throw with, you’ve got the 9th inning.
Jovani Moran: Moran has 95 innings of MLB experience under his belt, and his peripherals tell a different story than his ERA. His career ERA is 4.26, but his FIP is 2.89 and a SIERA of 3.84. Moran had Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2023 season, missing 2024 entirely, and finally made it back to the big leagues with Boston this past August. Alex Speier wrote this week about Moran having an uptick in velocity this winter in Puerto Rico, where he’s playing for Red Sox bench coach Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez said, “The stuff is there. He can be a guy that can help us, definitely.”
Unfortunately, the 28-year-old Moran has had a 13.5 BB% in his career and is going to need to get that in check if he’s to be trusted in leverage situations.
Shane Drohan: Boston wasn’t going to allow Drohan to be plucked from them in the Rule 5 Draft for a second time, like he was by the White Sox before the 2024 season. Drohan had shoulder surgery that year, struggled during his minor league rehab, and was then returned to the Red Sox in August. Drohan was very good in 11 Triple-A starts for Boston in 2025, with an ERA of 2.27 and an outstanding 34.5 K%. The Red Sox essentially chose the 27-year-old Drohan over the more experienced Bernardino and Murphy.
Jake Bennett: The return in the Luis Perales trade, Bennett was likely closer to his MLB debut than Perales was, and could be a part of the bullpen in the second half of 2026 if he can’t crack a rotation that has a lot of names in front of him. Baseball America ranks Bennett’s 60-grade changeup as his best pitch, with a 55 fastball, and 50 slider, while putting his control at a 60. With just a 6.4 BB% in the minors in 2025, Bennett is a strike-thrower who will need to add some velocity to improve a pedestrian strikeout rate in the minors.
Who’s Off The Board?
Steven Matz: Tampa Bay – 2 years, $15M
Gregory Soto: Pittsburgh – 1 year, $7.75M
Caleb Thielbar: Re-signed with Chicago Cubs – 1 year, $4.5M
Caleb Ferguson: Cincinnati – 1 year, $4.5M
Drew Pomeranz: Los Angeles Angels – 1 year, $4M
Matz seemed to get starter money from the Rays. Soto may be in the saves mix for the Pirates, who suddenly feel like spending before they’re the poster child for a Salary Floor in the next CBA. Seeing Pomeranz, a former Sox great, pop up in a box score for the Cubs this year was shocking, considering he hadn’t pitched since 2021, and he was as good as ever.
Who’s Still Out There?
While the Sox probably don’t have a huge budget to add a reliever, considering they need to add a significant bat who will likely command a significant salary, they should add a southpaw from the list below. Neither Moran nor Drohan has the experience to go into the season with the trust to get a key lefty out in a high-leverage situation, although they could get there as the season goes on.
Danny Coulombe: Age 36, Career ERA: 3.35 in 316 2/3 IP
2025 stats (MIN, TEX): 43 IP, 2.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 14.2 K-BB%, .203 Opponent BA, 107 Stuff+
Coulombe was equally nasty against hitters from both sides of the plate, with RH hitters actually having a lower batting average (.188) against him. He didn’t fare as well after being traded to Texas at the trade deadline (5.25 ERA, nine walks in 12 IP). Coulombe’s career has really ramped up since 2022, with just a 2.38 ERA in that time. Unfortunately, he has missed quite a few games in each of those seasons due to injuries.
Taylor Rogers: Age 35, Career ERA: 3.34 in 541 1/3 IP
2025 stats (CIN, CHC): 50 2/3 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 13.6 K-BB%, .247 Opponent BA, 104 Stuff+
Similar to Coulombe, Rogers struggled after a trade this year, sporting a 2.45 ERA with the Reds and 5.09 with the Cubs. A former closer with the Twins and Padres, Rogers throws sidearm and has been deadly on lefties who have hit .199 against him in his career. He hasn’t had any notable injuries in his 10-year career, and seems like a good fit for this team.
Justin Wilson: Age 38, Career ERA: 3.59 ERA in 562 IP
2025 stats (BOS): 48 1/3 IP, 3.35 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 15.7 K-BB%, .262 Opponent BA, 105 Stuff+
Wilson was great against lefties for Boston a year ago, allowing a .212/.292/.282 slash line against them. Righties hit .306 against him. Wilson dealt with arm injuries for years, including Tommy John, which caused him to miss almost all of 2023 and 2024, but he held up for all of 2025. At 38 years old, the cost shouldn’t be much more than it was a year ago ($2.25M).
Andrew Chafin: Age 35, Career ERA: 3.35 ERA in 542 IP
2025 stats (WAS, LAA): 33 2/3 IP, 2.41 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 11.9 K-BB%, .238 Opponent BA, 95 Stuff+
As Eck would say, Chafin throws absolute salad with a fastball that averages 89.7 mph, but he gets away with it from pitch movement coming in on lefties. Allowed just a 3.4 barrel rate in 2025. Walks a lot of batters (5.0 BB/9 from 2023-2025) but has a good strikeout rate as well. His splits are pretty even for his career but he was lights out against lefties in 2025 (.136 BA and .186 SLG% against). Has played for six different teams over the past three seasons and may be a relative of Kenny Powers.
Jalen Beeks: Age 32, Career ERA: 4.31
2025 stats (ARI): 57 1/3 IP, 3.77 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 11.7 K-BB%, .201 Opponent BA, 95 Stuff+
There are ex-Red Sox all over this list. Beeks made a brief appearance with Boston in 2018 before being traded to Tampa Bay for Nathan Eovaldi, which I would say worked out well. Beeks doesn’t strike many batters out but he has a unique delivery and was able to get batters out from both sides of the plate in 2025, with righties hitting just .190. He has an excellent changeup that he threw 38% of the time last year, which allowed an absurd .067 BA.
