RADIO
Matt Boyd 2019 Outlook: The Slider Is The Key To Success
6 years agoMatt Boyd posted the best ERA and K/BB ratio of his career in 2018. Unfortunately, his ERA was still a mediocre 4.39 and his K/BB ratio barely cracked usefulness at 3.12. In the first two months of 2018 it looked like Boyd was finally breaking out. In 57 innings he posted a 3.00 ERA and 1.07 WHIP for the Tigers. But eventually the clock struck midnight on Boyd, and he struggled to the tune of a 5.08 ERA and 1.9 HR/9 during his final 113.1 innings in 2018. Same old Matt Boyd, right? Well, he did make one major change in 2018, and that was ramping up his slider usage from about the 10-12% range to a whopping 31%. The slider is Boyd’s best pitch; batters managed just a .172 AVG against it last season and whiffed at it 16.54% of the time. This shift in pitch mix could prove fruitful for Boyd, especially if in turn he gets away from his sinker. Batters pulverized Boyd’s sinker last year with a .352 AVG and .670 SLG against the pitch, but he also threw just 10% of the time in 2018. Boyd is a flawed pitcher, of that there's no doubt, but a new slider-heavy approach could make him a solid post-hype sleeper. Draft Boyd in one of the last few rounds and take a wait-and-see approach with him. Boyd is a high-risk sleeper, but try and avoid letting him do too much damage to ratios early in the season.
