Matthew Boyd has exceeded most outdoors 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 Prime Prospects checklist was revealed that March. He’d pitched properly the earlier yr — 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 quick observe report of success, the skepticism was comprehensible.
The left-hander’s personal expectations had been loftier, and he wasted little time in proving his doubters incorrect. Boyd made his main league debut three months later, and never solely did he accomplish that as a starter, he’s gone on to make 170 of his 184 profession appearances in that function. 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 usually hasn’t been wholesome; over the previous 4 years alone, he’s missed 390 days of the season as a result of harm. It’s early, in fact, however to date 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 seem like? Furthermore, what does he consider it a full decade later? Wanting to search 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 bought $75,000 within the sixth spherical after making actual progress in his final newbie yr.”
“That’s fairly spot on,” Boyd stated. “It was my first season beginning after relieving, taking part in first base, and DHing. I turned down the Reds, went again to highschool, and bought the prospect to pitch on Fridays all yr. I bought to showcase all of my pitches and the way I might assault hitters a number of instances via the lineup. Folks lastly bought to see what I had. Personally, I’ve little question I’d have executed what I did had I began all 4 years. I’ve a variety of confidence in my capacity. So yeah, there’s positively reality to that. I lastly bought to point out one thing I hadn’t proven the primary three years.”
“He’s at all times been somewhat 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 yr 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 point out that I might take a beginning job there.
“One of many [adjustments] was elevating my arm slot. That may assist my entire pitch combine. It could assist my changeup and curveball be extra constant. I’d be a four-pitch pitcher who might 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 might rank it out,” Boyd responded. “However at that stage, nobody was hitting my slider. My curveball has at all times been my fourth pitch, however it was efficient as properly. So, which may have been true, however 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 School World Collection elimination sport. “That final outing in Omaha, I in all probability used it round 35 instances in my complete-game begin. However it’s a kind of issues. [Scouts] had been making trustworthy evaluations for it on the subsequent stage. They had been doing their greatest interpretation of ‘Do we expect that performs in skilled baseball?’ So, that’s not too stunning. Everybody has at all times form of stated that about me, though I’ve believed in myself. I’ve at all times held myself in increased regard.”
“Fastball command and a constant breaking pitch is what’s holding him again.”
“Fascinating,” Boyd stated. “Perhaps anyone caught me on a nasty day? I had fairly good command, and I believed my breaking pitch was fairly constant. Perhaps it simply wasn’t constant via the framework of how they had been projecting me on the subsequent stage. To them, constant on the school stage wasn’t constant within the professional stage. However I’ve at all times prided myself within the capacity to adapt, and proceed to develop my sport.”
“The doubtless consequence is a spot starter/lengthy man that may match up on lefties and be a beneficial 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 like it as a result of I believed that I used to be a lot better than that. It’s at all times good to concentrate on how folks view your expertise, however in the end, your perception goes to hold how far you go.”
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Earlier “Outdated Scouting Reviews Revisited” interviews may be discovered via these hyperlinks: Cody Bellinger, Dylan Stop, Matt Chapman, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Matthew Liberatore.
