Boyd’s world is now centered in Seattle
Updated 9/13/2022 1:48 AM
SEATTLE — It’s real. But to Matt Boyd, it feels like a dream.
The opportunity to play for his hometown Seattle Mariners? No way.
To say the Mariners’ trade with the San Francisco Giants caught the left-handed pitcher off guard would be an understatement.
“I was completely blown away … in the best way possible,” said Boyd, the former Oregon State standout who has been given a new lease on his career with the team he grew up rooting for as a child in nearby Mercer Island.
Boyd, signed to a one-year, $5.2 million free agent contract by San Francisco in the offseason, never pitched for the Giants. The 6-3, 215-pound southpaw had spent the entire season rehabbing from September 2021 surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow before the acquisition by Seattle in an August 2 trade.
“It’s crazy,” Boyd said, “but I’m grateful.”
After six relief appearances for Triple-A Tacoma, Boyd was called up by the Mariners. Since then, he has pitched out of the bullpen three times, allowing no runs and no hits in four innings. He earned a win in relief against Cleveland in his second game, then threw two flawless innings in a 6-4 loss to Atlanta Friday night.
“Matt is doing a great job for us,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He threw really well the last time out. He is coming back from an injury and has been inactive all year, and he’s never pitched out of the bullpen before.”
Not never, but hardly ever. In 149 career major-league games with Toronto and Detroit, Boyd had 145 starts. The last time he pitched regularly out of the ‘pen was as a junior at Oregon State in 2012, when he was 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA in 31 relief appearances.
“He pitches like a starter, but I think there’s a spot for him on this club,” Servais said. “We need a left-hander down there (out of the ‘pen). Matt is a great addition, not just in our bullpen but in the clubhouse. He’s an awesome guy.”
Boyd, 31, will be nothing if not compliant.
“I’ll do whatever they need me to do,” he said Sunday before the Mariners’ 8-7 win over Atlanta. “(Pitching in relief) is different. I’m still working through some things that I’m not completely comfortable with. Part of that is having not pitched all season.
“I’m not used to (the bullpen), but I’m enjoying this season. We have a great group of players and coaches here.”
Boyd was recruited by the Beavers as a two-way player, As a freshman, he played first base and designated hitter, batting .264 with six doubles and three home runs in 29 games while earning Freshman All-America honors. Then coach Pat Casey and pitching coach Nate Yeskie determined he would be a pitcher. Boyd was a solid reliever for two seasons, and after his junior year was drafted in the 13th round by the Cincinnati Reds. Ultimately, he turned down a bonus offer of six figures to return for his senior season at OSU.
“I was close to signing at first,” Boyd said. But his father, Kurt, recommended he go back for another year in Corvallis.
“Through a lot of prayer, it became clear that it wasn’t supposed to happen,” Matt said. “I’m grateful for how it all turned out.”
Part of the decision came with a promise from Casey and Yeskie that he’d get a shot at a spot in the starting rotation. Boyd became the Beavers’ Friday night guy in 2013, going 11-4 with a 2.04 ERA. In 18 starts, he never gave up more than three earned runs and only once worked fewer than six innings. He also served twice in relief during the Super Regional and College World Series that year.
But Boyd’s crowning glory was the two-hitter he threw as Oregon State beat Indiana 1-0 in a CWS elimination game, outdueling the Hoosiers’ Aaron Siegers. I didn’t witness Drew Rasmussen’s perfect game against Washington State, but I can say that Boyd’s outing against Indiana was the best I’ve ever seen by a Beaver hurler.
The lead on my game story that day: “Rembrandt beat Picasso Wednesday night at TD Ameritrade Park.”
“Matt was as good as anybody we’ve seen throw here in the College World Series,” Casey said afterward. “I’ve never seen a bigger pitching performance. Not on that stage, against a good-hitting club … it was fantastic. That from a guy who turned down professional baseball to come back, because he wanted to pitch in the College World Series.”
Reporter Stefen Pivovar of the Omaha World-Herald told me that night that Boyd was as good as anybody he had seen in 31 years covering the CWS. “I can’t say I’ve seen a single performance better than that,” Indiana coach Tracy Smith told the media.
Today, Boyd smiles at the memory.
“That was such a special time in a special season,” he said. “Getting to do that with that group is something I’ll never forget. That whole year was special. I was All-Pac-12, went to Omaha, got my degree and met my wife.”
Boyd was also chosen in the sixth round by Toronto and rose quickly to the MLB club in 2015. The Blue Jays traded him to Detroit midway through his rookie year, and he spent 6 1/2 seasons with the Tigers, a perennially also-ran team. Boyd had his moments. In 2019, he was 10th in the AL with 238 strikeouts with only 50 walks in 185 1/3 innings, but he also yielded a league-high 39 home runs. Last season, he was 3-8 in 15 games with a solid 3.89 ERA.
It all led to Seattle, where Matt and wife Ashley have made their home in the Sammamish/Issaquah area since Matt began pro ball. Matt’s parents, Kurt and Lisa (they’re both Huskies), have been to several games. Matt’s sister, Jessica, and her fiancé came to a game. The two oldest Boyd children — daughter Meira, 5, and son Meira, 3 — have come to games. (Lisa had twins last year. They stay home.)
“The oldest two definitely have things figured out,” Matt said with a laugh. “It was tough telling Meira we weren’t going to be in Detroit anymore, because that’s all she knew. She really loved San Francisco and now she really loves being home here in Seattle. My son is eating it up. He loves the Mariners.”
The Boyds have been involved in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for some time, at first working with an organization called “Remember Nhu.” In 2018, they started their own nonprofit called “Kingdom Home.” They have purchased six-plus acres in Uganda and built several homes in which 157 children aged 6 to 17 can live safely.
“The mission is the same,” Matt said. “Our goal is to stop sex trafficking through prevention. It’s been awesome to go over there and see our work. We haven’t gone the last two years (due to Covid restrictions,) but we’re going this year.”
The Boyds were named 2019 Michiganians of the Year for their work in Africa.
The Mariners, 79-61 after beating Atlanta two of three at T-Mobile Park, are first among teams vying for one of three playoff berths in the AL. Boyd, who has never played a postseason game, likes what he has seen so far.
“This is a special clubhouse,” he said. “There is a really solid group of guys here. We are not the youngest team by any means, but we’re not the oldest, either.
“We have tremendous leadership from the veteran guys. There are some real studs here, like Ty France and J.P Crawford, Mitch Haniger and Paul Sewald and Marco Gonzalez. The list goes on and on. Everyone is going in the same direction. It’s no wonder why we’re having the success we are this year.”
Boyd said the repaired elbow feels good.
“No problems there,” he said. “It’s just everything that comes with not pitching for a year. That’s the biggest thing, something you have to adapt to. There’s a learning curve there. But it’s been really good working with the (training) staff here. It’s been seamless.”
Boyd, who will be a free agent again this offseason, would like to return to the Mariners.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “That would be really cool. You always want to be part of a great clubhouse like this. I think we can win it all. A lot of things have to happen, but this team has the ability to do what we all dream and want for this franchise.”
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