Former Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves reliever Lucas Luetge has signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox as we get closer to spring training.
Per Luetge himself on Instagram:
Year 17 and heading back to the Northeast! Excited to join the @redsox organization! #mlb #baseball #redsox
The 36-year-old has had an interesting career arc to say the least. He made his major league debut in 2012 with the Mariners and pitched for them at the major league level each year from 2012-15. He then didn't appear at all in the big leagues until resurfacing in 2021 with the Yankees. He stayed in New York through 2022 and then made 12 appearances with the Braves in 2023.
Luetge has pitched in 230 career games, pitching exclusively as a reliever (ok, he has one career start). Lifetime, he's 12-11 with a 3.60 ERA.
It's unknown at this time what the contract with Boston entails but it's probably a minor league pact. Though the Red Sox are predicted to finish last in the American League East, making the roster will be tough to do.
Boston figures to have Lucas Giolito, Nick Pivetta and Brayan Bello penciled in for starting rotation spots. After that, Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Wincowski and Kutter Crawford are all in contention. The two that lose out on rotation spots will likely head to the bullpen, where Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin are out there, with John Schreiber.
So even though the Sox don't figure to be very good, there may not be huge opportunity for Luetge. He'll have to prove himself in spring training.
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