The Giants keep on stockpiling starting pitching.
Shortly before midnight on the West Coast Wednesday, Audacy Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman reported that the Giants have agreed to a one-year deal with former Detroit Tigers southpaw Matthew Boyd worth $5.2 million with $2.3 million in incentives.
An elbow strain limited Boyd to just 15 starts in 2021, when he posted a career lows in 3.89 ERA and 4.10 FIP, toted a 1.27 ERA with 67 strikeouts and 23 walks in 78.2 innings. Boyd, 30, eventually underwent surgery in September to repair the flexor tendon in his throwing arm.
Before 2021, Boyd was durable and didn’t miss a start in the previous three seasons – with 12 in 2020, 32 in 2019 and 31 in 2018 – but he’s never topped 185.1 innings pitched. Boyd’s fastball only averages 92 mph, but he’s great at mixing his changeup and slider to get batters to chase. Despite not having overpowering stuff, he racked up 238 strikeouts in 185.1 innings (11.6 K/9 rate) in 2019. Boyd has had problems with the longball in the past, giving up the most in MLB in 2020 (15) and 2019 (39).
At the moment, the Giants have six big-league starters – Logan Webb, Carlos Rodón, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Alex Cobb – and two more recently-signed fallback options in Jakob Junis and Carlos Martínez, who has an incentive-laden minor league deal that could be worth up to $4 million. All of them except for Webb were signed via free agency this offseason.
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Unless the Giants move to a six-man rotation or an injury occurs, someone will be the odd man out come Opening Day. San Francisco has also positioned itself well to handle some of the new, grueling road trips and doubleheaders presented by the revised schedule published by MLB Wednesday. Rodón also was limited last year (only six of his 24 starts were on four days’ rest) as he dealt with a shoulder issue, so maybe the Giants will be creative with their starters and rely on load management to keep them fresh.
Farhan Zaidi, Gabe Kapler and the Giants don’t make moves without calculation, but it will be interesting to see how they keep everyone happy. Rodón, DeSclafani, Wood and Cobb were each lured with eight-figure contracts and Webb looks like the team’s homegrown ace.
On paper, Boyd probably doesn’t fit into a five-man rotation, but he fits the bill as a veteran with upside for the Giants, along with others like Wood and Kevin Gausman over the past couple of seasons.
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