F/F SPOTLIGHT: Matt Boyd

Matt Boyd (LHP, DET) was selected in the sixth round of the 2013 MLB amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, following a four-year stint at Oregon State University. He ascended pretty quickly through the minors, despite never appearing on top prospect lists, making his MLB debut with Toronto on June 27, 2015. He was then traded to the Detroit Tigers a month later as part of a package that brought David Price to Toronto. At that time, Boyd was widely viewed as a potential back-end rotation piece or middle reliever, as none of his pitches graded out as plus and there was concern about his delivery and extreme fly ball tendencies.

Those concerns were validated in his first taste of MLB action, as he struggled mightily, posting a 7.53 ERA...

Almost!

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