After spending a majority of the season on the injured list, Matthew Boyd has returned at the perfect time. Following Thursday night's victory against the New York Mets, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that Ben Brown will be out for at least a month. What was initially believed to be a neck strain when Brown was placed on the 15 day IL has turned out to be a stress reaction, and there is no definitive timetable for his return.
Brown had been the Cubs best swing and miss guy to this point, and stepped up in a big way when Boyd and others went down with injuries. It's time for Boyd to return the favor, and Thursday night was a good indicator that he certainly can. Prior to his injury, Boyd had been far from effective, having an ERA over 6.00 on the season. Despite being on a pitch count, Boyd's return start against the Mets was his most effective of the season, allowing 0 runs through nearly 5 innings.
Injuries don't seem to be lingering for Boyd as he continues to effectively miss bats
The swing and miss stuff is still there for Boyd, and the Cubs desperately needed it. Although he gave up 4 walks in the outing, he struck out 4 and continued to miss bats. Despite some poor early season outings, Boyd has been very effective at getting batters to swing and miss, especially at pitches outside of the zone. This should be very encouraging for Cubs fans, as walks haven't been a frequent issue for the veteran and should be slowed down in his next starts.
Over the past couple of months, Ben Brown has been the only Chicago starting pitcher without major question marks. Boyd needs to be able to deliver consistent quality outings in his absence. Outside of him, the current starting rotation has struggled at limiting the long ball as well as striking out batters. These are both things that Boyd can do well, and he showed in Thursday night's victory that he is up to the task.
Cubs pitching woes likely to continue despite Boyd's return
The Cubs certainly enjoyed Boyd's presence back, as Chicago's pitching woes outside of him are almost certain to shine through over the next few days. Following Pete Crow-Armstrong's game winning hit to complete the season sweep of the Mets, the Cubs go to Milwaukee to face a gauntlet of starting pitching, including Friday night against Jacob Misiorowski. With Colin Rea on the bump, the Cubs will need to find a way to get hits off of Misiorowski. Chicago's starters for the rest of the series are still undetermined.
| More Cubs News and Rumors |
Add us as a preferred source on Google