Matt Marton-Imagn Pictures
Matthew Boyd has exceeded most exterior expectations. Chosen within the sixth spherical of the 2013 draft out of Oregon State College, the 34-year-old southpaw was ranked twenty ninth when our 2015 Toronto Blue Jays High Prospects checklist was printed that March. He’d pitched effectively the earlier 12 months — a 3.17 ERA between Excessive-A and Double-A — however as our then-lead prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel wrote, “Some scouts nonetheless suppose there isn’t sufficient right here to stay as a starter.” Given Boyd’s comparatively brief monitor document of success, the skepticism was comprehensible.
The left-hander’s personal expectations had been loftier, and he wasted little time in proving his doubters improper. Boyd made his main league debut three months later, and never solely did he achieve this as a starter, he’s gone on to make 170 of his 184 profession appearances in that position. Now in his eleventh massive league season, and his first with the Chicago Cubs, Boyd has by no means been front-of-the-rotation good — his profession ERA and FIP are 4.79 and 4.56 respectively — however he’s been efficient when wholesome. The issue is that Boyd typically hasn’t been wholesome; over the previous 4 years alone, he’s missed 390 days of the season as a result of damage. It’s early, in fact, however up to now in 2025, Boyd has been each wholesome and efficient. Throughout his two begins, he’s thrown 11 scoreless innings.
What did Boyd’s 2015 scouting report appear like? Furthermore, what does he consider it a full decade later? Wanting to seek out out, I shared a few of what McDaniel wrote and requested Boyd to reply to it.
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“Boyd was a senior signal out of Oregon State in 2013 that received $75,000 within the sixth spherical after making actual progress in his final novice 12 months.”
“That’s fairly spot on,” Boyd stated. “It was my first season beginning after relieving, enjoying first base, and DHing. I turned down the Reds, went again to highschool, and received the possibility to pitch on Fridays all 12 months. I received to showcase all of my pitches and the way I may assault hitters a number of occasions by means of the lineup. Individuals lastly received to see what I had. Personally, I’ve little doubt I’d have completed what I did had I began all 4 years. I’ve a variety of confidence in my means. So yeah, there may be positively reality to that. I lastly received to indicate one thing I hadn’t proven the primary three years.”
“He’s all the time been a little bit funky, however Boyd went from a LOOGY to a doable starter after elevating his arm slot and smoothing out his supply a bit.”
“Yeah, so true,” Boyd replied. “After my junior 12 months I had a chat with Pat Casey and Nate Yeskie, the pinnacle coach and pitching coach at Oregon State. I used to be like, ‘Hey, I wish to come again, however there are issues I imagine I can do, and wish to do, if I come again.’ I informed them that I wished the chance, the runway, to indicate that I may take a beginning job there.
“One of many (changes) was elevating my arm slot. That will assist my complete pitch combine. It might assist my changeup and curveball be extra constant. I’d be a four-pitch pitcher who may assault each righties and lefties.”
“He sits 88-92 and hits 94 mph with a strong common changeup, a fringy curveball, and a below-average slider.”
“I imply, that’s in all probability how they’d rank it out,” Boyd responded. “However at that degree, nobody was hitting my slider. My curveball has all the time been my fourth pitch, nevertheless it was efficient as effectively. So, that may have been true, nevertheless it’s not how I believed in it.
“I leaned on my slider a ton,” added Boyd, referring to his 1-0 win over Indiana College in a Faculty World Sequence elimination sport. “That final outing in Omaha, I in all probability used it round 35 occasions in my complete-game begin. Nevertheless it’s a kind of issues. (Scouts) had been making sincere evaluations for it on the subsequent degree. They had been doing their greatest interpretation of ‘Do we predict that performs in skilled baseball?’ So, that’s not too stunning. Everybody has all the time sort of stated that about me, regardless that I’ve believed in myself. I’ve all the time held myself in larger regard.”
“Fastball command and a constant breaking pitch is what’s holding him again.”
“Fascinating,” Boyd stated. “Perhaps someone caught me on a foul day? I had fairly good command, and I believed my breaking pitch was fairly constant. Perhaps it simply wasn’t constant by means of the framework of how they had been projecting me on the subsequent degree. To them, constant on the school degree wasn’t constant within the professional degree. However I’ve all the time prided myself within the means to adapt, and proceed to develop my sport.”
“The probably final result is a spot starter/lengthy man that may match up on lefties and be a helpful member of a workers, however the lack of a breaking ball would make him a non-traditional LOOGY.”
“I really like that,” Boyd stated. “I find it irresistible as a result of I believed that I used to be significantly better than that. It’s all the time good to concentrate on how individuals view your expertise, however finally, your perception goes to hold how far you go.”
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Earlier “Outdated Scouting Studies Revisited” interviews may be discovered by means of these hyperlinks: Cody Bellinger, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Matthew Liberatore.
