Fair or not, every start for Matthew Boyd comes against the backdrop of the Tigers' decision to keep him last summer. So it was that he took the mound against the White Sox on Wednesday trying to change the story this season.
"He needs to get going," Ron Gardenhire said Wednesday morning. "He knows that as much as anybody else. Today's another big step for us. He's our ace, our No. 1 pitcher, and we need him to lead the way."
Boyd jumped ahead 1-2 against Tim Anderson in the first at-bat of the game. It was all downhill from there. Anderson wound up hitting a mammoth home run to left, and Eloy Jimenez followed by poking one out to right. That makes it 37 homers against Boyd since the start of last June, the most in the majors.
The Tigers rallied to take a 5-3 lead in the 5th. Needing a shutdown inning in the sixth, Boyd loaded the bases and gave up a three-run double to rookie Luis Robert, then another RBI double to Nomar Mazara, ending his day. That pushes his ERA to 6.25 since the start of last June, the worst in the majors.
It was around last June that Boyd's name surfaced on the trade market. But the Tigers never gave much thought to dealing him. They set an exceedingly high price, then said there wasn't much interest out there at all. You wonder why.
The same scenario played out this winter. By then, Boyd's trade value was already on the decline. And the Tigers had already decided he was the right man to anchor their rotation. He certainly has the leadership qualities, which matters with so many young arms in the wings. But it's becoming clear that he doesn't have the stuff.
What he has is a terrific slider when it's not hanging, a good fastball when it's not centered, a curveball he's still trying to develop and a changeup he hasn't developed enough. To Gardenhire, the issue this season has been Boyd's slow approach.
"We need his pace to be picked up and I think he understands that. He's trying to find his rhythm right now. This COVID thing has really messed up a lot of people trying to figure it out and get it going, and Matty's one of them," Gardenhire said. "Hopefully today we'll get to see what we saw most of last year, a guy dominating other teams and making pitches."
Problem is, that wasn't who we saw for 'most of last year.' That was who we saw for the first two months. The next four painted a much different picture, which is largely the same picture that's been painted of Boyd's career. Now it's not as clear where Boyd fits in the picture for the Tigers.
Let's assume Mize, Manning and Skubal are the real deal. Let's assume Spencer Turnbull continues his upward trajectory. What becomes of Boyd, as soon as next season, if he doesn't turn things around? This is the dilemma the Tigers invited when they took a burst of exceptional results at face value.
Wrong or right, the Tigers believed in Boyd at his best. You can understand the urge, given his character, his temperament, his work ethic and everything else that's so important in a young clubhouse -- in any clubhouse. Maybe he'll prove them right yet.
But it's getting harder to believe with each passing start, as the trade talks they rebuffed get harder to forget.
