Red Sox Cut 7-Year Veteran Catcher to Make Room for Tommy Kahnle

The Boston Red Sox had themselves an eventful day on Friday, to say the least.

The Red Sox welcomed the Tampa Bay Rays to town for a doubleheader to kick off the second half of the 2026 Major League Baseball season. Boston extended its active winning streak to 11 games and also got back to .500 with a 48-48 record. A shocking turnaround, to say the least. Right now, the Red Sox are actually tied for an American League Wild Card spot. It's hard to imagine anyone saw that one coming after Boston was 14 games under .500 just a few weeks ago.

On top of the two games on Friday, the Red Sox also had some roster housekeeping to take care of. First and foremost, lefty Alec Gamboa was promoted to the big league club to be the 27th man for the doubleheader. The rookie earned a save in Game 1 with three shutout innings. On top of that, MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo shared that Boston has officially re-signed veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle and released veteran catcher Matt Thaiss as a result.

"The Red Sox officially re-signed Tommy Kahnle and assigned him to Worcester. Catcher Matt Thaiss was released," Cotillo wrote.

The Red Sox Released Matt Thaiss

Mar 2, 2026; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Matt Thaiss (25) singles during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was initially reported on Tuesday that Kahnle would be re-signing with the Red Sox on a minor league deal. Now, the move has been made official. The new information that came out on Friday was the release of Thaiss.

Thaiss signed with the Red Sox this past January on a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Thaiss is a seven-year big league veteran who competed with Connor Wong for a job on the big league roster. There was a time when it seemed like Thaiss actually had a solid shot at a spot, too.

While this is the case, Wong retained his role with the club as Thaiss was cold offensively towards the end of camp. Overall, he hit .190 with one RBI in 12 Spring Training games played for Boston. He has spent the season so far with Triple-A Worcester and has slashed .201/.314/.313 with three homers and 24 RBIs in 44 games played.

The Red Sox clearly made the right call keeping Wong on the big league roster, rather than Thaiss. Wong has played in 42 games and is slashing .283/.383/.381 with a .764 OPS, one homer and 15 RBIs.

Kahnle is back and now Thaiss is out there for the taking for another team to swoop in and nab him.

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