Former Red Sox Prospect Shows Promise Against Old Team
A former member of the Boston Red Sox recorded a save to secure a Los Angeles Angels victory on Wednesday. It wasn’t Kenley Jansen.
Jansen, who spent the previous two seasons as Boston’s closer, received a day off after leaving Monday’s appearance due to cramping and pitching a scoreless inning Tuesday. The Angels instead turned to Ryan Zeferjahn to finish a 5-2 victory at Anaheim.
Following seven strong frames from Yusei Kikuchi, Zeferjahn pitched two hitless and scoreless innings to register his second career save. The performance marked a highlight of a topsy-turvy season from the former Red Sox farmhand.
Last summer, the Red Sox sent Zeferjahn to the Angels with three other players (Matthew Lugo, Niko Kavadas and Yeferson Vargas) for Luis García, a veteran reliever who allowed 15 runs in 13 innings after the trade.
Zeferjahn hadn’t looked like a considerable trade piece at the time. The 6-foot-5 righty had posted a 6.57 ERA at Triple-A Worcester that season, allowing 17 walks in 24 2/3 innings.
Yet Zeferjahn instantly improved with his new club, authoring a 2.12 ERA in his first 17 MLB innings for the Angels late last season. While he hasn’t maintained those same results in 2025, the 27-year-old has flashed potential.
Following Wednesday’s save, Zeferjahn has a 4.40 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 30 1/3 innings. He’s also compiled 38 strikeouts and a 13.5 swinging-strike percentage, with a fastball averaging 97.5 mph and stymying opponents to a .235 weighted on-base average.
Opponents are hitting .121 against Zeferjahn in June, but that’s after they slashed .313/.431/.458 off him in May. And although he ended the Red Sox series on a high note, he reintroduced himself to the team that drafted him in 2019 by serving up a home run to Trevor Story on Monday.
Despite his erratic results, Zeferjahn leads the Angels with 14 holds and sports an encouraging 3.32 SIERA. He has the stuff to develop into a high-leverage reliever if he can improve his secondary pitches and keep the ball in the park.