Seattle – Matthew Boyd never felt right. Not since early in 2021. Not even after he had flexor tendon surgery and rehabbed his way back first into a bullpen role with the playoff-bound Mariners last season and then into the Tigers’ rotation.
Never felt right. His stuff, the ease in which he could throw and command his four-pitch mix, never came all the way back. The consistency, the resiliency of his body between starts, just wasn’t the same.
But it never felt like he’d stopped progressing. That was the befuddling part. Slowly but surely, his velocity ticked back up. His slider finally regained its shape and its bite. In his first four starts in June, he punched out 27 hitters with three walks in 22 innings. He limited the White Sox to a run in five innings with nine punch-outs. He beat the Twins and Royals in back-to-back starts.
“I felt like the guy I wanted to be was right around the corner,” Boyd said. “But obviously something was holding us back.”
That something reared its ugly head in Texas on June 26. He’d just struck out Josh Jung with firm, well-placed two-seamers (94 and 93 mph). But his first pitch to Adolis Garcia, his 13th pitch of the game, sailed to the backstop and the grimace on his face was chilling.
“I knew something was wrong, but I honestly didn’t think it was that,” Boyd said.
It was. A day later tests revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Being in Dallas was somewhat of a blessing. That’s where his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, is based. On June 28, Boyd had Tommy John surgery.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Boyd, the Seattle-area native who was back in the clubhouse for the first time since the surgery Friday. “Obviously, I want to keep helping this team on the field this season. But it’s exciting to know what’s ahead and to finally feel really, really good and to know what I can do when I do feel really good.
“That part is exciting.”
He had the flexor tendon surgery in September of 2021. He was 30 years old. He was able to get back on the mound for Seattle last September and then signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Tigers last winter.
Fifteen starts later and at age 32, he’s facing another 12- to 18-month recovery and rehab process. He’ll be 34 when he’s ready to pitch again. That time lost is bothersome to him, for sure. He was asked if he allowed himself to second-guess anything going back to the first surgery.
“There was no other option,” he said. “There was never a question about doing (elbow surgery) the first time, so there is no second-guessing. It’s just the time. That part is a little harder. But I knew something wasn’t right and we were all in the same boat.
“There was nothing indicating it was anything other than what you’d expect in the first year back starting coming off that surgery. It turns out, it was something a little more.”
Self-pity isn’t part of Boyd’s DNA. But he admitted to some dark, why-me moments in Texas.
“Don’t get me wrong, I asked those questions,” he said. “And they will probably pop up from time to time again. I want to be out there throwing with the guys. But at some point, it doesn’t really matter anymore. It’s more like, this is what needs to happen. And because of that, get it fixed and we’ll come back stronger when we get back into it.”
Eternal optimism and self-belief are part of Boyd’s DNA. And he needs to lean on those qualities more than ever now. And toward that end, he looks at these last three years, the two surgeries, the limited innings, as merely an odometer adjustment.
He’s rolled back the miles on his left arm. He’ll be a young, fresh 34 when he gets clear of this.
“I am excited for the other side,” said Boyd, who will remain with the team and do his treatments and rehab work in Detroit. “There’s knowing what I can do when I’m healthy. It’s not giddy optimism. It’s truly understanding that I know my ability and I believe in it. Unfortunately, since 2021 something hasn’t been right.
“I already feel better right now and that part is exciting to me. I’m excited to go forward knowing I’m going to feel healthy after this and I can do exactly what I said I was going to do here. My best baseball is ahead of me.”
Twitter@cmccosky