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Jorge Castillo
The New York Yankees and veteran reliever Tyler Matzek have agreed on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, sources told ESPN Monday night, adding another experienced left-hander to the bullpen mix on the eve of camp after the team officially re-signed Tim Hill over the weekend.
A top-shelf reliever over three seasons for the Atlanta Braves, including during their 2021 World Series run, injuries have limited the 34-year-old Matzek to 11 appearances over the past two years.
The former first-round pick missed the entire 2023 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2022. He returned to post a 9.90 ERA in 10 innings over 11 games through May 4 last year before he was placed on the injured list and didn’t appear in another game.
Atlanta traded Matzek to the San Francisco Giants in July to offset salary in a deal for outfielder Jorge Soler. He was released a month later and re-signed by the Braves on a minor league deal, pitching in four games for the organization’s Triple-A affiliate before he reached free agency.
Between 2020 and 2022, after overcoming a case of the yips with the Colorado Rockies that pushed him to independent league baseball for two seasons, Matzek recorded a 2.92 ERA in 132 games as a key contributor in the Braves’ bullpen.
While Hill, who signed a one-year, $2.85 million contract after a strong 2024 season, is a ground ball specialist from the left side, Matzek missed bats at a high rate when healthy, recording a 27.4% strikeout rate from 2020 through 2022 with a fastball in the mid-90s.
Hill remains the only left-handed reliever on the Yankees’ 40-man roster. Brandon Leibrandt and Jayvien Sandridge are the other lefties slated to report to spring training as non-roster invitees.