Cincinnati Reds Draft Notre Dame Reliever Joe Boyle

The big Notre Dame right-hander was a fifth round pick fo the Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds drafted Notre Dame reliever Joe Boyle in the fifth round of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft.

Due to COVID-19 the 2020 draft was limited to just five rounds, and Boyle was the final pick for the Reds. He was taken with the 143rd overall pick, which comes with a slot value of $382,700.

The 6-7, 240-pound right hander came out of the bullpen for the Fighting Irish. He made 32 appearances during his career and tossed 36 innings. Boyle gave up just 21 hits in those 36 innings, but he struggled with control, walking 44 batters and hurling 10 wild pitches in three seasons.

Boyle is massive and throws very hard, and according to MLB.com he topped out at 102-miles per hour with his fastball. On top of the power, Boyle's motion from the stretch keeps the ball hidden until it explodes on the batter, which is a big reason why college hitter never made strong contact against him.

That power allowed Boyle to strike out 57 batters, which is good for an outstanding 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings rate. The Goshen, Ky. native did not allow a single long ball during his career and gave up just two extra base hits in 36 innings.

Boyle's lack of control resulted in him posting a 6.00 earned run average throughout his career. Despite the walk rate Boyle is an intriguing prospect due to his size and arm power, and the Cincinnati Reds love big power arms.

Boyle has a season of eligibility remaining, but being picked this high will be quite tempting, and knowing how the Reds run their draft operation the odds are strong they had a good idea that Boyle would sign if he was selected.

The Notre Dame junior pitched in the Cape Cod League last summer and was ranked as the 18th best performer according to ProspectsLive.com. Here is their writeup on Boyle:

"Straight cheese is the best way to describe a Joe Boyle appearance. Sitting 97+, hitting 100 with 2400+ spin rates on multiple occasions Boyle’s fastball is double plus. He pairs it with a slider that’s average at best, playing off his fastball. He struggles with command at his worst walking nearly a batter an inning, but his swing and miss ability make him a weapon out of the pen. Boyle made two appearances in our Cape Looks series."

RedsMinorLeagues.com had an even more in-depth scouting report on Boyle. Here is what they wrote:

"Arm strength. Joe Boyle has some of the best velocity in the entire draft. He’s capable of sitting in the upper 90’s and has hit 102 in the past. And the right-hander can reach those velocities without much effort. He also throws an above-average to plus slider.

"So why was a guy with a plus-plus fastball and a potential plus slider available in the 5th round? Well, that’s because he’s struggled to throw strikes in a big way. From 2018-2020 with Notre Dame he threw 36.0 innings and he walked 48 batters to go along with 57 strikeouts. The stuff is huge, but he misses the strikezone at rates that simply will never work.

"At his size, the hope is that he can come into things a bit further down the road – something that isn’t rare for pitchers this tall. But still, he’d have to cut his walk rate in college in half in order to still be in a range that would be considered terrible. There’s a lot of upside here, but the risk is also enormous given just how poor his strike-throwing ability has been."

Below is film from Boyle from the Cape Cod League:

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