Matthew Boyd, Detroit Tigers
We’re blessed to have some top-tier pitchers in today’s game. But still, two weeks into the regular season, there are just two starters with a strikeout rate above 40.0%. Can you guess who they are?
Mike Clevinger (52.4%) and Boyd (40.3%). Baseball, man.
Sure, the Tigers’ southpaw has tossed just 17.1 innings to this point in the season. But this jumps out because his current season-long career-high strikeout rate came last year when he made hitters whiff at a 22.4% clip.
Boyd’s swinging-strike rate (16.8%) has also ballooned with his strikeout rate, and there’s a clear shift in pitch mix going on here. The usage of his curveball and changeup has dropped approximately four and five percentage points, respectively, while he’s throwing his fastball and slider with more regularity.
That’s where a lot of his strikeouts are coming from, too. His four-seamer is generating strikeouts at a 31.6% rate (20.1% in ’18), and his slider is boasting a 62.5% strikeout rate (33.3% in ’18).
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