DALLAS — Seven months ago, veteran left-hander Matthew Boyd, without a team, went through the final steps of the arduous rehab from Tommy John surgery.
At that point, the 33-year-old was praying for an opportunity in the majors to show what he could do. And when that chance came to fruition with the Cleveland Guardians, Boyd delivered over the final two months (2.72 ERA in eight starts) and into the postseason to set up an intriguing free-agent process that culminated in a two-year, $29 million deal with the Cubs.
Boyd enjoyed his first true taste of postseason baseball this year after his initial experience of just 1/3 inning in 2022 with the Seattle Mariners. He was stellar in the playoffs with Cleveland, posting a 0.77 ERA in three starts between the American League Division Series and Championship Series. Boyd envisions repeating that experience with the Cubs, who are trying to return to the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2018.
“It was one of those things that you dream about and you watch every year so finally getting the opportunity to do it was really exciting and it’s something I’m excited to do in the future,” Boyd said Monday. “I loved that sense of urgency. Just everything about it was really, really cool. It felt like something that had been a long time coming.”
Boyd said he was thankful to have options in free agency and is grateful to sign with the Cubs, who have always held a place in his heart because his grandfather, John, grew up in Chicago, then stationed there with the Navy during his 30-year career, and was a die-hard Cubs fan.
“2016 was one of the happiest days of his life so I know he’s smiling somewhere — I think he was more excited about the Cubs scores than my own performance some of the times,” Boyd said with a smile. “He’d be like, hey, the Cubs lost today, but you did pitch well.
“The opportunity to play for the Cubs was always something that I wanted to do. You never know what’s going to happen or not, but thankful that it did to play for this franchise, the history.”
Although Boyd has been limited to only 124 innings in the last three years due to his elbow injury and subsequent surgery, he adds experience to the rotation and raises the floor of the group’s potential. He signed with the Cubs feeling confident in the organization’s ability to return to the playoffs after falling short with consecutive 83-win seasons.
The source of Boyd’s optimism? A year of growth from the Cubs’ younger players and witnessing what they did down the stretch, a strong rotation, and their lineup stood out, particularly after he got a look at them on Aug. 13 in Cleveland during his first start of the season.
In an effort to stay locked in during the first half of the season while he was an unsigned rehabbing pitcher, he dove in on lefty starters, including new teammates Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga.
“I picked guys I like to watch and those were two lefties that I just I love watching them attack hitters, and to be in a staff with them, along with Jamison (Taillon) and Javier (Assad) and there’s a lot of other guys that are super talented,” Boyd said. “There’s a ton of upside, and I’m really excited to be part of it and do my part of it to help bring a championship to Chicago.”