TOKYO — Matthew Boyd’s appreciation for baseball’s popularity in Japan and its stars can be traced to his roots.
Boyd grew up roughly 30 minutes outside Seattle and became a big Mariners fan when the organization featured two Japanese stars, the legendary Ichiro Suzuki and closer Kazuhiro Sasaki. Boyd later spent the 2022 season with Seattle and got to know Ichiro. Those connections made this Tokyo Series trip a “very special experience” for Boyd.
“Talking baseball and having conversations with him is something I dreamed of as a kid,” Boyd said of getting to know Ichiro.
With the popularity of the early-2000s Mariners teams featuring Ichiro and Sasaki, Boyd remembers becoming more knowledgeable about Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.
“Because those Mariners teams really invigorated a love for baseball, and because of that, the coverage of NPB was also present in Seattle,” Boyd said Saturday. “So we got to learn about the professional teams and learn about something amazing. … It’s cool how baseball is truly a cultural thing.”
Seeing Ichiro be among those voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in January did prompt Boyd to ask a question when the topic came up during his press conference Saturday.
“A ton of respect to all the writers, but how did someone not vote for him?” Boyd wryly wondered, prompting laughs. “What he did was amazing … what he did in NPB and MLB over his career with his cumulative stats is unreal. I don’t think we’ll ever see it again.”
Julian Merryweather could again be a key bullpen piece
The Cubs know how effective right-hander Julian Merryweather can be in high-leverage spots when he’s healthy.
The 33-year-old was limited to 15 games in 2024 because of a stress fracture in a rib in his back and chronic right knee tendonitis that resulted in season-ending surgery. When Merryweather was on the mound last season, he was ineffective, posting a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings. Now healthy, Merryweather has a chance to be a big piece of the Cubs bullpen.
“For Julian, he has his legs underneath him and with that comes velocity,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday in Tokyo. “So all of his outings in spring, we are getting to the bigger velocities. And Julian is a pitcher like most where, maybe more than most, his velocity is critical for him and so it’s made a difference.
“The volatility of relievers is very well documented and the season he had in ’23 is one that we need to try to get back, and that would be a really important development for us. And so far this spring, I think we’re closer to that version than the 2024 version.”
Merryweather’s four-seam fastball maxed out at 98.2 mph in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers while the pitch averaged 97.4 mph, an increase of 1.4 mph from 2024. The Cubs bullpen depth, especially in the late innings, will look a lot different if Merryweather pitches like he has this spring, particularly when he’s as effective as he was Saturday at the Tokyo Dome.
“It’s nice to not have to think about injuries and pain when you’re pitching,” Merryweather said postgame. “Been able to really get back to what I’ve been working on my whole career, which is working on my mechanics, repeatable delivery, so when that’s my focus, I feel like that’s when I’m at my best. And, yeah, we’re definitely setting a good foundation.”
This and that
Third baseman Matt Shaw is switching his jersey number from No. 77 — which he had used during big-league camp — to No. 6 — the number he wore at Maryland — ahead of his potential major-league debut next week against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The number was his preferred choice and happened to be available. … Boyd will piggyback on Jameson Taillon’s start in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants. … Counsell put Seiya Suzuki in the No. 2 spot of the lineup for Saturday’s exhibition matchup versus the Hanshin Tigers, saying, “we’re still kind of playing around with our lineup construction a little bit,” but he expects the slugger to bat second or third in the order.
