This off-season the Chicago Cubs signed veteran southpaw Matthew Boyd to a two year, $29 million deal with an option for a third season. To some, that may have been viewed as a gamble, given Boyd’s struggles to stay healthy since the shortened 2020 season, but it’s become clear that his time away from the mound and stints with several organizations taught him some valuable information that has fueled his strong start to the 2025 season.
Matthew Boyd has put up a pair of zeros to begin the 2025 season
Through his first two starts as a member of the Cubs, Boyd tossed 11.0 innings, gave up nine hits, walked four, struck out 10, and did not give up an earned run. His next test will be against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, but so far he has shown an uptick in velocity from year’s past and a deadly slider/changeup off-speed combo.
With the Chicago Cubs, Matthew Body has been the best version of himself
In 2025, Boyd is aiming for a fully healthy season for the first time since 2020. He underwent elbow surgeries in 2021 and 2023 and has been limited to 15 or less MLB games since. Throughout that journey, he has spent time with the Tigers, Mariners, Guardians, and Giants.
Although Boyd never played for San Francisco, he told Maddie Lee of the Chicago Suntimes that while there in 2022 he learned the best version of a changeup that worked with his fastball and slider. This year, that changeup has generated whiffs at a 40% clip and Boyd feels like he is in complete control of his off-speed pitches.
“I’ve had the changeup at points in my career, I’ve had the slider at certain points in my career, but having them both as effective offerings, it hasn’t really been there. It’s fun to have both those pitches and still have my fastball in positions that I can just kind of let it rip.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time trying to be like other people, trying to learn a pitch like another person and whatnot. It’s like, well, maybe that didn’t work best for me. Let’s be the best version of myself and go take that against the best version of somebody else.”
-Matthew Boyd per the Chicago Suntimes
Hopefully everything Boyd has learned over the years will continue to translate into success on the mound in 2025 and a full/healthy season.
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