Boyd's long wait is over, and strong return is 'just the beginning'

CLEVELAND -- Matthew Boyd waited 414 days for this moment.

It’s the feeling of digging your cleats into the mound. It’s the adrenaline rush of pitching in front of 30,000 fans. It’s the pressure of performing when your teammates need you most. It’s the ovation you receive when you do your job as best as you could’ve. It’s all of these things that pitchers crave and that Boyd had to be without for 14 months, stuck at home in Washington, because of Tommy John surgery.

“You sit there and you’re like, ‘Man, I should be at Spring Training,’ but I’m throwing here at Eastside Catholic High School,” Boyd said. “Then Opening Day rolls around and it’s like we knew the plan, knew what was in my heart, doesn’t mean it was easy, but it makes you miss it.”

That’s why as Boyd walked off the mound at Progressive Field on Tuesday night in the Guardians’ eventual 2-1 victory over the Cubs, he couldn’t help but smile. The long hiatus from this game was officially behind him. Everything he endured in the last year was worth it, as a new fanbase showered him with a roaring round of applause.

“It was really special to have that,” Boyd said.

The lefty allowed just one run on three hits with six strikeouts and no walks in 5 1/3 innings. The Guardians knew they were going to be careful with his pitch count, considering this was just his first outing back, so he was pulled after 80 pitches. But his stuff indicated he could’ve gone deeper.

“What a night for Matthew Boyd,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It had to feel so good for him just to take the mound, let alone give an outing like that the first time back.”

Boyd pounded the strike zone. He threw 61 of those 80 pitches for strikes (76.3%), including 19 straight strikes in the first and second innings. He faced 19 batters and saw 11 0-2 counts.

“He threw a ton of strikes,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s ahead of the count and he’s ahead of the count with quality pitches. He pitched well.”

Depth and efficiency are keys for this team. This is why the Guardians wanted to bring in veteran pitchers like Boyd and Alex Cobb to try to give an overworked bullpen a little rest. And Boyd couldn’t be more thrilled to show that he could fill this role in his first opportunity back on the rubber.

The moment hit Boyd hard. This is a 33-year-old pitcher. He had to trust that his rehab from the Tommy John procedure would put him in a place to be signed in the middle of the 2024 season. Once that was accomplished and the Guardians inked him to a one-year deal in June, all he needed to do was successfully finish a rehab assignment and his comeback was complete.

Boyd dominated Minor League hitters and was ready to prove that success could translate at the big league level.

History told us to question that reality. Boyd had pitched to a 5.45 ERA in 15 starts before his elbow pain became unbearable last year with the Tigers. He hadn’t thrown in more than 15 games in a single season since 2019, due to injury after injury.

At the time he was signed, Boyd insisted that his underwhelming numbers were due to his underlying ailments. He was confident that he could prove he could be successful now that he’s feeling healthy for the first time in a long time.

That’s exactly what he did on Tuesday. But Boyd knows there are plenty of starts ahead.

“It was an awesome milestone, but just the beginning. The goal is much bigger than that,” Boyd said. “An opportunity that sits here with this team and this ballclub is special.”

It had been 414 days since Boyd last walked off a big league mound. At that time, he was defeated with his head down, grimacing in pain in just the first inning of his start. This time, he tried to hold back tears of joy, knowing his comeback was complete.

“There will be a time and place to watch baseball from the couch, but I don’t think it’s in the near future,” Boyd said. “For as hard as those days were, in my heart, I knew what was ahead and tonight had a special place because of that.”