{"id":705646,"date":"2026-05-31T10:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705646\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T10:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T10:51:13","slug":"tommy-kahnle-to-test-free-agency-if-not-promoted-by-red-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/705646\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Kahnle To Test Free Agency If Not Promoted By Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a June 1 opt-out date looming, veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle<\/a> is expected to look for a new team if he isn\u2019t added to Boston\u2019s roster, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com<\/a>. This is the second time Boston has faced a roster decision with the right-hander, who triggered<\/a> an upward mobility clause on May 1, but ultimately remained in the minors with the organization.<\/p>\n

Kahnle has been excellent at Triple-A this year. The 36-year-old has allowed just three earned runs across 19 1\/3 innings. He\u2019s ripped off 14 consecutive scoreless outings. Kahnle is striking out more than a batter per inning with Worcester, though he does have a 13.3% walk rate.<\/p>\n

No club jumped in to add Kahnle at the end of April, but maybe he\u2019ll garner more interest after posting 11 zeroes in May. Boston could face a tougher choice this time. \u201cI know there are dates coming up,\u201d interim manager Chad Tracy<\/a> said, relayed by Cotillo. \u201cOur front office, they\u2019re always aware of that. We\u2019re well-aware of who he is, what he\u2019s done and his performance down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kahnle has pitched for five teams in his 11-year MLB career. The righty spent last season in the Tigers\u2019 bullpen. He posted a 4.43 ERA across 66 appearances. With left-hander Alex Lange<\/a> getting hurt in the spring and right-hander Jason Foley<\/a> falling short of a roster spot, Kahnle began the year as Detroit\u2019s primary closer. He picked up nine saves, easily a career-high mark. Will Vest<\/a> eventually emerged as manager A.J. Hinch\u2019s preferred choice in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

An elite changeup has been Kahnle\u2019s primary pitch in recent years. The offering posted a +4 Run Value this past season. Kahnle\u2019s changeup had the fifth-highest Run Value in the league in 2024. The veteran is throwing the pitch at a 63.4% clip with the WooSox, which is actually a bit low for him. Kahnle has thrown the changeup at least 72% of the time in four straight years. He\u2019s sitting 93 mph on the four-seamer, which is down slightly from 2025 (93.5 mph).<\/p>\n

As Cotillo notes, lefty Tyler Samaniego<\/a> and righty Greg Weissert<\/a> would be potential candidates to head back to the minors if Kahnle is given a roster spot. Samaniego was crushed for four earned runs on six hits as an opener on Friday. Weissert has pitched better in May, but a rough start has his ERA sitting at 4.43. Right-hander Ryan Watson<\/a> has been generally ineffective (5.35 ERA, 7.02 xERA), but since he\u2019s a Rule 5 pick, Boston would risk losing him if he\u2019s taken off the roster. The Red Sox relievers have pitched well as a unit. The bullpen ranks fifth in xFIP and seventh in SIERA.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a June 1 opt-out date looming, veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle is expected to look for a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82,150353],"class_list":["post-705646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-tommy-kahnle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}