WORCESTER — For his first Triple-A start, Gage Ziehl got to throw to Adley Rutschman. “That was awesome. He made it easy. Stand-up human being,” Ziehl told the T&G. Rutschman, a catcher who was acquired by the Boston Red Sox at the MLB trade deadline, was also making his Triple-A Worcester debut on Aug. 8 while on a rehab assignment. “Especially in the first inning, throwing out a runner for me, that was cool,” Ziehl added. “I had a lot of buddies that were stoked and sent me photos of me and him walking off the field.”
It’s been a cool — and crazy — past two years (and two weeks) for Ziehl in professional baseball. Ziehl, who grew up as a New York Yankees fan, was selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft. He posted a 4.12 ERA (49 ER/107.0 IP) with 90 strikeouts and 19 walks in 22 games (21 starts) across three levels in 2025, which was his first in professional baseball. The right-hander pitched in 14 games (all starts) for Single-A Tampa, one game for High-A Hudson Valley and one start for Double-A Somerset before being traded to the Chicago White Sox on July 30, 2025. Ziehl proceeded to record a 4.01 ERA (11 ER/24⅔ IP) in six starts for High-A Winston Salem over the remainder of the season.
The Red Sox then traded right-handed pitchers Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin to the White Sox, along with cash considerations and two players to be named later, in exchange for Ziehl and a player to be named later on Feb. 1, 2026. In his third organization in the span of less than a year, Ziehl spent the beginning of this season with Double-A Portland — going 6-3 with a 4.33 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 17 starts. After surviving the trade deadline this go-around, Ziehl was called up to Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 4.
Gage Ziehl struck out 8 over 6 innings on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/9daV85YBJm — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) August 4, 2026 “I’m not going to lie, this deadline, I didn’t know how it was going to go,” Ziehl said. “So that was a day full of anxiety. But, you know, I’m really happy to still be in this organization. “My mom texted me actually after the deadline. She’s like, ‘I’ve never been so happy for you to be a Boston Red Sox.’” Just five days after the MLB trade deadline, and four days after being promoted to Worcester, Ziehl made his Triple-A debut at Polar Park with Rutschman serving as his catcher. Ziehl pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing two hits, no walks and getting eight strikeouts to pick up the victory in the WooSox’ 19-0 win.
Gage Ziehl with 5.2 scoreless innings in Worcester! pic.twitter.com/AklfKjnkgH — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) August 9, 2026 “You hear good things about him and then you kind of see it with your own eyes,” WooSox acting manager Iggy Suarez said. “I’m impressed. … I knew he was pretty good. And to give us that outing and just in the zone, confident with his stuff, didn’t shy away from hitters, especially there were some guys that could swing the bat in that lineup, and he wasn't shying away from the stuff and just going after them. To be able to get eight punchouts out of that, that’s pretty impressive.” In a year full of adjustments, Ziehl has also modified his pitching. The 23-year-old dropped his arm slot down to emulate his freshman year of college, when he had his highest strikeout rate at the University of Miami, and started throwing his fastball again after saying he didn’t throw it at all last year. Ziehl throws in the low 90s and tops out at 95 miles per hour, and enjoys throwing the “kitchen sink” in the strike zone with his fastball, sinker, cutter, changeup, sweeper and curveball.
“I’ve been punching out more guys this year than I have the last couple of years,” said Ziehl, who has 104 strikeouts in 18 games this year as opposed to 90 in 22 contests last year. “So definitely been fun doing that.” “The bulldog is always going to come out of him,” WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia said. “It’s just a matter if we can keep that consistent up here (in AAA).” Now with Triple-A Worcester, Ziehl will make his second start for the WooSox on Friday. It’s been a crazy journey for him in baseball the past two years — and past two weeks in the Red Sox organization. “I’m just happy to be here,” Ziehl said, “and happy to win ballgames with this club.” —Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: New WooSox pitcher impressive so far with Triple-A Worcester