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Matthew Boyd starts ALCS Game 3

Vaseline October 17, 2024

CLEVELAND – The Guardians haven’t seen a version of Matthew Boyd they didn’t like. And now, with Cleveland in a 2-0 hole in the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, Boyd will get the ball for Thursday’s Game 3 at Progressive Field.

The Guardians dropped Game 1 and Game 2 in New York, while the Yankees jumped on both Alex Cobb and then Tanner Bibee. Neither Guardians starter pitched past the third inning. Boyd, who joined the club midseason while recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitched brilliantly against the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series and now carries the burden of helping the Guardians get back into the series .

“Matt has thrown the ball well every time we’ve given him a ball this year,” manager Stephen Vogt said, speaking of the confidence he had in turning to Boyd in such important situations. “He has worked extremely hard to get healthy again. I’m excited to get him the ball and see what he can do.”

ALCS Game 2 takeaways: Guardians Make Rare Defensive Mistakes in ALCS Game 2; Tanner Bibee was eliminated early

In eight starts in the regular season, Boyd had an ERA of 2.72. He then pitched 6⅔ scoreless innings in the ALDS, including two innings in Game 5, which was all the Guardians needed before going to their best bullpen in the league.

Matthew Boyd starts ALCS Game 3 for Guardians

Boyd, 33, came to the Guardians with a career ERA around 5.00, coming back from major elbow surgery. To him, what Cleveland has seen is the effort of about four years of work and refinement. Except that improvement couldn’t be shown on the field while he pitched due to injuries or was sidelined as a result.

As Boyd noted Wednesday, one degree of difference on the mound could be a “fan” of 17 inches of variance at the plate. For a pitcher fighting through something, repeating a pitch can be difficult. Finally, after years, Boyd feels healthy.

So far, the Guardians have benefited from all of this.

“I spent the better part of four years trying to find the best version of myself, but there were obviously things that got in the way of that: injuries,” Boyd said. “I would say what you’re seeing now is just me being healthy, finally having healthy reps, and being able to do the things I wanted to do.”

Boyd also said his recent run is a great credit to the “Cleveland pitching factory,” as Lucas Giolito once called them.

‘Those guys understand. Hey, this is the best version of you, and what this looks like here and what this looks like there,” Boyd said. “It’s a constant evolution every day. I’m really grateful to those guys.”

Guardians have unclear plans for ALCS Games 4, 5 vs. New York Yankees

How the Guardians will attack the Yankees’ lineup after Game 3 remains unclear. Alex Cobb was scheduled to start Game 5, but his back injury – which led to Ben Lively replacing him on the ALCS roster – changed those plans.

Bibee’s short start in Game 2, in which he threw just 39 pitches before being thrown out with the bases loaded in favor of Cade Smith, could also play a role in changing their plans. Bibee could potentially return on shorter rest to start Game 5.

Game 4 could then feature multiple options, including Gavin Williams. But with three games on three consecutive days (if Game 5 is necessary), the Guardians will need some more length from their starting pitching if they want to extend the streak.

The Guardians will continue to respond as each game arrives.

“We have some ideas, but we still have to see how the matches go,” Vogt said. “The tone of our entire year has been, ‘Let’s worry about today, let’s win today, and let’s worry about tomorrow and tomorrow,’ and we’re going to stick with that.”