DETROIT – Detroit Tigers starter Matthew Boyd sought out Ron Gardenhire shortly after wrapping up his five-inning start on Wednesday night.
“The first thing he said was, ‘I’ll be better next time,'” Gardenhire recalled after the game. “This boy cares. He worries to much. He is a good leader and he will be fine. “
Boyd can be hard on himself, but he also has a knack for seeing the positive in every situation.
Both of these traits will come in handy after his second start to the season, which wasn’t entirely bad.
And it’s much easier to be positive given what happened after Boyd left. The Tigers scored three runs to take the lead and the bullpen pitched four perfect innings to protect him.
The Tigers are 4-2 to start the season and can win their second consecutive series Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Here are four conclusions from Wednesday’s 5-4 win.
1. Speed up the pace.
When the runners had the Royals on base, the pace of the game slowed down. And the Royals always seemed to have runners on base during Boyd’s departure.
The starting man came in the first four innings of the game; In the fifth inning, the second man reached the base.
That meant Boyd was almost always pitching off the stage, and his pace suffered accordingly.
“It’s about timing and mechanics,” said Gardenhire. “I think she might be thinking too much about things, instead of letting her catcher put up a sign and launch.
“The pace of the game was not good. There were five innings of a very slow pace and he trying to figure things out. Maybe it’s as simple as when the receiver puts up the sign, let’s say yes and go and keep the game moving. “
Boyd said that an improved pace is one of the things he can aim for for his next start.
“There is a lot of benefit to having a good rhythm between pitches. When you have that good rhythm between releases, it carries over to your delivery, ”Boyd said.
“Those are things that are under my control. There are other things you can’t control or change, but I know I can stay in baseball, I can increase the pace, and there are ways I can improve my game. “
2. The gods BABIP.
There are other things that are out of Boyd’s control, and those elements were not nice to him on Thursday.
So its beginning seemed worse than it was. In five innings, he struck out six and did not walk a batter. Got 13 swings and misses.
But the Royals put the ball into play 18 times and nine of the balls landed by hitting. After Boyd left, the Royals put the ball in play 12 more times; none of the balls landed on blows.
Yes, on the move, Boyd allowed tougher contact than the bullpen, but not enough to account for a .500 gap in the batting average on balls in play (BABIP).
Just one of two of those glove dropping balls would have made a huge difference.
That is why it is advisable not to overreact to Boyd’s initial two starts. In both outings, he eliminated five innings and improved as he progressed.
“You never know what race a ball game will win or lose. That is why you keep attacking one pitch at a time, ”she said.
3. JaCoby fuels the return of the Tigers.
The Tigers have come from behind in their four wins this year. Jonathan Schoop and JaCoby Jones have played a key role in three of them.
Jones hit his second home run, and his third overall in six games, in the seventh inning. Previously, Jonathan Schoop tied him in the fifth with a two-run shot.
Jones’ home run came with a 3-2 count after a seven-pitch at-bat against Ian Kennedy. He said he was looking for an out-of-speed shot, but ended up hitting a fastball.
“He was sitting at low speed on every pitch. If he had thrown me three heaters in a row, he probably would have tested me, ”Jones said. “But my hands are fast enough, I can stay inside of myself and I can get to those (fast balls). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In that situation, facing him in the past, he has thrown me many casualties. My hands are fast enough, I just reacted and gave him a good punch. “
Jones was hitting well with a new hitting approach before suffering a broken wrist last summer. His goal this season was to pick up where he left off. So far, it has.
“I fought those first two years in the big leagues, changing my stance and everything,” he said. “Finally, last year I just put the bat on my shoulder, tried to be soft, nice, and easy, and let my hands work. It’s paid. Last year, after breaking my wrist, it was very frustrating, I was so upset. I kept doing that in the offseason after I recovered, I kept working on it. I got to summer camp and it felt good. I’m just going to go on like this … forever. “
4. That beautiful bullpen.
The Tigers bullpen has pitched 10 scoreless innings in the past two games, allowing just two hits. They’ve struck out six and didn’t walk a hitter.
On Wednesday, John Schreiber, Bryan Garcia, Buck Farmer and Joe Jiménez combined to face the minimum. Garcia picked up his first major league victory.
“It is the next man, who gets his name,” said Garcia. “The new rule this year is that you must face at least three hitters, so that’s your entry, more or less. You have to be locked up and ready to go out. It all depends on who they think is best for the hitters to come and we just have to be prepared when our name is called. “
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