Everything Comes Full Circle For Matthew Boyd, Mariners
This season has no doubt been a long one for Mariners left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd. Before Thursday, Boyd hadn't pitched in a real MLB game since September 4, 2021 after suffering an elbow strain that persisted throughout the 2022 campaign.
The southpaw signed with the Giants during the offseason, but he was dealt to the Mariners before he could complete his rehab.
Seattle's decision to add Boyd at the August 2 trade deadline came as a surprise, considering he hadn't faced major-league pitching up to that point. There was history there, however, with the Mariners previously linked to Boyd back when he was healthy and pitching near the top of the Tigers' rotation.
Now, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and company hope to stretch Boyd out as a multi-inning reliever for the final month-plus of the regular season.
"We intended to build him into a multi-inning bullpen role, and we feel like that’s what he brings to the table for our team coming down the stretch here," Dipoto said in an interview with 710 Seattle Sports.
Boyd grew up a Mariners fan, and had always hoped for a return to pitch in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after the deal, he changed his Twitter profile picture to a photograph of him as a kid, posted up in the left-center field stands at then-Safeco Field, proudly donning a Mariners hat.
New profile pic pic.twitter.com/k899DULUOx
— Matthew Boyd (@mattboyd48) August 3, 2022
On Thursday, Boyd's long road back from injury finally paid off, pitching for his childhood team for the very first time. This special moment was magnified because it was against his longtime former team: the Tigers.
Boyd spun a 1-2-3 inning for Seattle and will look to do a whole lot more of that down the stretch, joining his childhood team as it looks to end the longest postseason drought in major professional sports.
