Every Team's Most Interesting Player: Detroit Tigers, Matthew Boyd

This is the 10th in a series of articles about the most interesting player for fantasy owners on each team heading into the 2020 season. We are going alphabetically, so today we’re going to talk about Matthew Boyd of the Detroit Tigers.

Boyd is going to be the Tigers’ ace in 2020. That’s not saying a ton, because the Tigers may be the worst team in baseball, but on a team nearly devoid of interesting players, Boyd stands out. He opened 2019 like a man on fire, pitching to a 3.13 ERA in March/April, and a 2.55 ERA in May. In those months, he pitched to a 2.85 ERA, striking out nearly 11 batters per nine, and walking just 1.86 per nine. He had the look of a bona fide, breakout fantasy ace. Then the rest of the season happened.

From June 2 on, Boyd posted a 5.67 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and surrendered a mind-blowing 32 home runs. But he remained confusing, because even during that horrific four months, Boyd struck out nearly 12 per nine and only walked 2.8 per nine, which is not a horrible number. He finished the season with a 4.56 ERA, but an xFIP of 3.88; while I do not trust xFIP as much as FIP (4.32), Boyd’s 18.2% home run to fly ball rate does seem excessive. A lot of what Boyd did last season is encouraging, and could make him a big value in 2020. The strikeouts and walk rate are covered, and those have always been part of his game. The strikeout numbers he produced were a career-high by far, but they track based on his killer slider, which was worth 9.4 runs above average last season.

Boyd was also an innings eater, going six innings or more 20 times, and going seven innings six times. If not for a few outings in which he got completely bombed, we’d be looking at a 200-inning horse, which is becoming increasingly rare with more frequent, specialized bullpen usage. To have a pitcher who is capable of a double-digit strikeout rate per nine offering close to 200 innings after pick No. 150 is unusual. As the 46th starting pitcher off the board, he is going 14 picks later than Robbie Ray of the Diamondbacks, who strikes out even more batters than Boyd, but walks far more and rarely hits the six inning threshold to qualify for a quality start. Why would he be a superior option to Boyd, whose ERA was inflated by an insane home run rate?

Boyd is not someone who can be counted on to anchor a fantasy staff, especially pitching for the Tigers who are likely to depress his win total. But he is the type of player who can tide you over in the event your ace gets injured, or aid you in leagues with more ratio categories, be it Roto or head-to-head. And don’t forget, there’s always the chance that Boyd could be dealt to a contender near the deadline.