Yankees reliever makes big free agency decision

The New York Yankees’ Tyler Matzek era was short and not so sweet. After promoting the former Atlanta Braves postseason hero to the bullpen at the end of April, with the hope that he could recapture his pre-Tommy John surgery form from 2021, the Yankees opted to designate Matzek for assignment late last week.

Now the lefty reliever has cleared waivers and decided to become a free agent instead of accepting the Yankees’ outright assignment to the minors, per MLB’s Bryan Hoch on X.

Matzek was at his best in 2020 and 2021 when he reinvented himself as a relief pitcher and dominated for the Braves. Matzek was a big part of Atlanta’s postseason run in 2021, coming up big for the team out of the bullpen in the Division Series and the World Series, in which he allowed just one run in 5.1 innings pitched.

RHP Tyler Matzek rejected an assignment to the Yankees’ farm system

In his brief stint with the Yankees, Matzek produced a 4.26 ERA and a bloated 2.526 WHIP, allowing three runs on 11 hits in just 6.1 innings pitched. New York’s pitching staff has been decimated by injuries this season. And while it’s primarily the starters who’ve suffered significant ailments, the bullpen has struggled a bit as well.

While Matzek was brought in to give the bullpen a boost, it clearly didn’t work out the way Aaron Boone and company envisioned. However, the Yankees did get an important reliever back from injury as Jonathan Loaisiga rejoined the team after a lengthy IL stint.

Loaisiga hadn’t pitched in over a year while he recovered from elbow surgery. But he’s looked effective in, albeit, a small sample size this season. The veteran righty has made two appearances for the Yankees since returning to the team, he’s allowed one run and one walk with two strikeouts in two shutout innings so far.

Now that Matzek has rejected New York’s Minor League assignment and opted to become a free agent, he can sign with any team that’s interested. He could also rejoin the Yankees on a new Minor League deal if he fails to draw interest from other teams in need of bullpen help.