At least he's well rested

The Cubs' big free agent pitcher signing doesn't actually pitch all that often

The Cubs have made several moves already this offseason and yesterday’s signing of starting pitcher Matthew Boyd for two years and $29 million is their best acquisition yet.

And that’s the problem.

As a move, it’s fine. Boyd was pretty good last year for the Guardians in his first action since finishing up his treatments for Tommy John Disease. He posted a 2.72 ERA, struck out 10.4 guys per nine innings and walked only 2.9. And he was good in the postseason allowing just one run total while pitching in both the American League Division and Championship serieseses.

Well, that all seems great. Jed’s done it again!

Did I mention that Boyd made just eight starts last season and threw only 39 innings? Or that he hasn’t made more than 15 starts in a season since 2019? Or that he’s led the league in something four times and they are homers allowed (twice), losses (once) and earned runs allowed (once?)

I guess I didn’t mention that.

He’s also not young (turns 34 in June).

But…he didn’t cost the Cubs a draft pick! So there’s that.

This could turn out to be a decent signing, however. Boyd will slot in as the Cubs fourth starter (when he’s healthy enough to actually pitch) and he was genuinely good for Cleveland. The issue, of course, is that it was just 11 games total. And, since he hasn’t thrown as many as 79 innings in a season in the last five years even if he does stay healthy, how many innings can you legitimately ramp him up to? 110? 100?

Boyd had a market. The Cubs were not the only team interested in him. Apparently they got him by being the only willing to give him a second year. Well, I’m sure that will work out just fine. Nothing beats Jed’s strategy of giving older players (Trey Mancini) more years (Tucker Barnhart) than anybody else can stomach. When has it ever gone poorly?