SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As soon as he walked into the Giants’ clubhouse Friday morning, Matthew Boyd’s positive energy radiated through the room. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey gave him a pat on the back and Boyd beamed a smile.
That is nothing new for Boyd, who has carried that zeal with him since the first time he picked up a baseball. But there was cause for celebration Friday: it was his second time throwing off a mound since last September, a major milestone in his recovery from flexor tendon surgery that prematurely ended his season last year.
The Giants signed the 31-year-old left-hander fully aware that the procedure would prevent him from starting the season in their rotation. The idea was for Boyd, who had a 3.89 ERA last season before being shut down, to act as midseason reinforcement for their rotation. And, with a bullpen consisting of 25 to 30 fastballs Friday morning, Boyd is on track to make his Giants debut in June.
“It’s just getting your feet under you. It’s my second time off the slope. There’s multiple steps on the mound ahead of this,” Boyd said in front of his locker just before making his way to the mound behind the right field wall of Scottsdale Stadium. “Every day is just pushing the needle a little bit more. That’s the goal.”
Boyd’s first bullpen came Monday, approximately six months since going under the knife.
“There’s always slight nerves,” Boyd said. “But after you throw the first one, you’re like, ‘Oh, I can do this. I’m prepared. I’m healed. I’m ready.’ So that’s exciting. It kind of frees you up.”
Manager Gabe Kapler said Boyd’s first bullpen went well. But Kapler has had a few weeks of camp to get to know Boyd before seeing him on the mound for the first time. He had an idea of the type of person he was adding to the clubhouse when, shortly after the Giants signed him, Kapler got a text message from Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter, who crossed paths with Kapler in the Dodgers organization.
“You’re going to absolutely love this guy. He’s the best, awesome teammate, awesome individual,” Fetter wrote Kapler.
“Man,” Kapler said Friday. “What an optimistic, positive, upbeat individual. … He always comes into the clubhouse with a smile on his face. He’s obviously not competing in games for us but feels like he’s very invested.”
Boyd, who grew up in the affluent suburbs east of Seattle and pitched in college at Oregon State, attributes his positive attitude to his faith, instilled in him by his parents, Lisa and Kurt. That, he said, helped him process the crushing news that came last June.
After posting league-worst marks in losses (7), home runs (15) and ERA (6.71) during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Boyd was experiencing a startling turnaround — the best season of his career — when he was shut down last year. Boyd had opened the year with a streak of seven starts in which he posted a 1.94 ERA and had thrown 2⅓ scoreless innings in a June 14 start against the Royals when he began to feel discomfort in his elbow.
Conflicting opinions from doctors delayed his eventual surgery until the end of September. Boyd attempted to make two starts in the meantime, with poor results. But he looks at last season as a positive sign for his future. He found that early success by relying on his fastball and changeup, with the lowest usage of his slider since 2017.
“It was kind of a coming together of different facets of my game that I’ve been working on over my career,” Boyd said. “Even with my slider not being there yet, I was trending in the right direction. I think if I would’ve stayed healthy, the real fruit would’ve been at the end of that, so (I) just continue to build off that.”
The late-September operation wasn’t a detractor in free agency. After hearing from multiple clubs, Boyd signed a one-year deal with San Francisco with incentives that can push his salary to $7.5 million. When Kapler called and pitched him on his vision and philosophy, Boyd was “fired up,” he said.
“I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” Boyd said. “You never know if you’re going to get to choose where you get to go. But (the Giants) are a team that you watch from afar and think I want to be a part of that. That looks special.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com