Houston Astros: Four starting pitchers that could be considered

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DETROIT, MI – JUNE 26: Matthew Boyd #48 of the Detroit Tigers pitches against the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Comerica Park on June 26, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

Matthew Boyd: Detroit Tigers – Left-Handed Starting Pitcher

Let’s get this one out of the way first. Of all the pitchers on the market not named Scherzer or Bumgarner, Boyd is the most sought after commodity on the market to date.

The positives. His K/BB% is at an all-time high, sitting at 6.45, ranking fifth in the league. He touts an 11.4 SO/9IP, raking up 129 strikeouts over his 101.2 innings of work. He is a lefty and his repertoire is what Brent Strom salivates over. Boasting a fastball, changeup, slider mix. He also dabbles in a sinker/curveball from time to time.

Here are the negatives. This is his only solid year. His stats are out of this world compared to his previous four seasons. Between 2015 and 2018, Boyd has a career 5.07 ERA with 394 strikeouts in 460 innings pitched. His price tag is also immense right now. Per George King of the New York Post, the Tigers have already said that Gleyber Torres would need to be included in any package deal for Boyd.

Tigers have discussed Matthew Boyd trade; Tigers asked for Gleyber Torres – CBS Sports https://t.co/lrXw3Eluw5 pic.twitter.com/TrXivVr1KV
— Bookie Insights (@BookieInsights) June 29, 2019

Let’s break him down real quick. His fastball tops out around 92 MPH, spinning at a 2,398 RPM rate. In contrast, that does put him at a -2 rate for speed and -182 RPM rate from Justin Verlander and a +.2 speed and + 165 RPM rate from Brad Peacock.

Per Fan Graphs, while he has men in scoring position, his K rate is at its best with, 12.86%. Fan Graphs also shows that he’s held left-handed hitters to a .242 average, something the current Astros pitching staff has had problems with.

He has given up a good bit of home runs, however, giving up 17 on the season so far. The same amount that Cole has given up.

He is 29 years old, and arbitration eligible for the next three years. So the controllability factor is a plus.

#Astros have interest in Matthew Boyd but source says they are indicating (for now, at least) that they won’t put Kyle Tucker in the deal. #Tigers asked for Tucker in the Verlander talks, too, and received a similar response from Jeff Luhnow. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 1, 2019

So, the question becomes, do you give up someone like Kyle Tucker for Boyd? As Jon Morosi has reported, the Tigers also asked for Tucker when the Astros struck a deal for Verlander and didn’t have to give him up. Do the Astro’s try again to swing a lesser deal, or is it wise to give up on such a corner-stone prospect like Tucker for Boyd?

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