Veteran southpaw opts out of Red Sox contract, signs with Cubs
A few days after leaving the Red Sox organization, veteran left-hander Lucas Luetge is heading to the Cubs. The southpaw will join Chicago on a minor league pact after spending the entire season at Triple-A Worcester.
The deal was first reported by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
Luetge has spent parts of seven seasons with the Mariners, Yankees, and Braves. He signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox back in March and battled for an Opening Day roster spot.
While pitching out of the WooSox bullpen, Luetge posted a 3.02 ERA while striking out 47 batters in 41 2/3 frames this season. Despite his consistent results with Worcester, the Red Sox never added the veteran to the 40-man roster. Instead, Boston has opted for lefties Joely Rodríguez, Brennan Bernardino, Cam Booser, and Bailey Horn.
Booser was recently optioned back to Triple-A Worcester after Chris Martin was activated off the injured list. Martin tossed a clean inning in the series finale loss to the Royals, striking out three batters. With Booser in Worcester, the Red Sox have just Bernardino as the only lefty in Alex Cora’s bullpen.
Luetge wasn’t the only left-handed hurler to leave the Red Sox organization this week. Boston released Jorge Benítez after he posted an 8.07 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 35 walks over 35 2/3 innings (26 games).
Benitez started the season with a 3.75 ERA over his first seven outings, but then the wheels fell off quickly. In 8 1/3 innings in May, he owned a 15.12 ERA (14 earned runs) in seven games while striking out and walking 11 batters. He consistently pitched to an ERA over 6.00 or higher the remainder of the season and saw time on the development list.
The lefty announced he would be joining the Dodgers organization, according to his Instagram story.
