Brief former SF Giants pitcher has blossomed into All-Star with Chicago Cubs

The SF Giants are set to face the Chicago Cubs in a three-game series starting on Tuesday night and former Giant Matthew Boyd will take the mound. The ex-Giant has surprisingly blossomed into an All-Star pitcher this year for Chicago.

In 25 starts on the season, Boyd has a 12-6 record with a 2.61 ERA in 148 innings pitched. The 34-year-old earned his first career All-Star nod this season and the Cubs must feel pretty good about inking him to an affordable two-year, $29 million deal in the offseason.

Former SF Giants pitcher Matthew Boyd has blossomed into All-Star with Cubs

To call Boyd a familiar face for Giants fans would be a bit misleading considering he never threw a pitch in a Giants uniform. Boyd was a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers for many years but in 2022 the Giants signed the lefty to a one year, $5.2 million contract, saying they expected him to "start meaningful games" for the team. He ended up not starting at all.

Boyd was recovering from forearm surgery all of 2022 so he ended up never appearing for the Giants. San Francisco traded him in August of 2022 along with catcher Curt Casali to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for some minor league players.

The Washington native pitched a little for Seattle in 2022 and ended up returning to Detroit in the offseason. He struggled in 2023 to a 5.45 ERA in 15 starts, but after joining the Cleveland Guardians last season he seemed to find something.

In just eight starts with Cleveland in 2024, he had a 2.72 ERA in 39 and 2/3 innings. That was enough to get Chicago to take a chance on him and they must be glad that they did as he has been terrific for the Cubs this season.

Chicago is in great position to make the playoffs even if they find themselves five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. They are the top NL Wild Card team so they are in great shape with just over a month to go in the regular season.

Boyd will be the starting pitcher in Tuesday night's contest at Oracle Park. He faced the Giants earlier this year in May at Wrigley Field and pitched well against a Giants team that has struggled mightily against left-handed pitching this season.

Maybe San Francisco can right the ship against a familiar name in Matthew Boyd.

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