Tommy Kahnle re-signs with Red Sox, returning to Triple-A Worcester

Tommy Kahnle has re-signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox and will report back to Triple-A Worcester, keeping a veteran right-hander in Boston’s pipeline as bullpen depth remains a priority. The move puts No. 46 back on the Worcester side of the organization, where the club can monitor his workload and decide whether his stuff is ready for another major league turn.

The signing extends a cycle that began with Kahnle’s first minor league deal with Boston on March 19, a pact that came with a spring training invitation. The Red Sox eventually brought him up from Worcester, where the reliever built enough trust to reach the majors before the roster churn pushed him off the staff again. He was designated for assignment on June 30 and later elected free agency, but Boston has kept the door open for another look at an arm with real big league experience.

Kahnle’s case is tied to one pitch as much as to his resume. MLB.com has long described his changeup as one of the best in baseball, and that is the pitch Boston is betting can still carry him through a return run in Worcester and, if the results come back, into Fenway Park again. The Red Sox also had reason to believe he could be ready for Opening Day because he had already pitched in the World Baseball Classic, giving him a head start in workload compared with a normal spring arm.

His Worcester numbers show why this is a depth move with upside rather than a finished bullpen solution. One account had Kahnle at a 2.45 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 14 innings before his call-up. Another stat line showed a less tidy stretch, with eight runs allowed on 12 hits and six walks while striking out five in nine innings over eight appearances. That split is the story Boston is trying to solve: if Worcester gets the version that misses bats and limits traffic, Kahnle can still become a usable major league reliever; if the walks and contact persist, he remains insurance rather than a lock.

A native of Latham, New York, and a Shaker High School product, Kahnle is now back in the familiar low-pressure, high-monitoring lane that Triple-A Worcester offers. For Boston, it is a practical wager on experience, one more attempt to turn a changeup specialist into a late-season bullpen answer.