Red Sox Agree To Deal With Veteran Relief Pitcher Tyler Olson

There’s no such thing as too much pitching depth, and the Boston Red Sox added some Tuesday morning by adding Tyler Olson.

The Sox on Tuesday agreed to terms with the veteran relief pitcher, his agency announced. According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, it is a minor league deal.

Olson, 31, is a left-handed reliever with 124 big league appearances across five seasons and three teams (the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians). He signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs for the 2020 season, but never played a game with the minors season cancelled.

His most extended look was with Cleveland, where he was something of a bullpen mainstay from 2017 through 2019. There, he posted a 3.46 ERA in 112 appearances (78 innings).

The addition of Olson comes at a time where there’s a little bit of uncertainty in the Red Sox bullpen. Matt Barnes tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, forcing himself and a number of other Sox pitchers into MLB’s COVID protocols. However, it was determined that Barnes had a non-infectious positive test, so he ended up getting cleared.

Nevertheless, a season still is being played in the middle of a pandemic, so flexibility and depth is of the utmost importance.

Cotillo noted that Olson will start in Ft. Myers instead of Worcester, likely so he can ramp up after missing all of spring training.