The Red Sox designated Mata (elbow/lat) for assignment Tuesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Mata missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury and missed the final three months due to shoulder and elbow soreness and never got surgery, which likely contributed to him getting squeezed off the 40-man roster. He is 25 and hasn't thrown more than 30 innings in a season since he threw 83 innings in 2022. Mata has a career 4.87 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 70 strikeouts in 61 innings at Triple-A, and his best path forward is likely as a reliever who can just let it rip with his fastball and slider in short bursts.