Detroit Tigers: Matthew Boyd is deemed the Opening Day starter in 2021

The Detroit Tigers have announced that Matthew Boyd will be the Opening Day starter for the 2021 season. This will be the second year in a row that Boyd is named the starter for the team’s first contest.

Before that, the Opening Day starting job was given to Jordan Zimmermann who has finally departed the Detroit Tigers organization. However, in 2021 Boyd will be entrusted to the starting duty for the team’s first game.

The Tigers have seen a decent performance out of Boyd in his 2021 Spring Training outings so far as Spring Training comes to a close. Boyd has been rough on the mound as of late, and in 2021, he needs to figure things out and do a turnaround.

As the Tigers have been preparing for the 2021 season, Boyd was likely going to be the Opening Day starter, but he was given this job once again. With a new manager, A.J. Hinch, at the helm of the organization they could have opted to switch things up and go with someone like Spencer Turnbull but they opted to go with Boyd.

On Opening Day in 2021, the Detroit Tigers will send Matthew Boyd to the mound.

So far this spring, Boyd has pitched in four games, totaling 13 innings pitched for the Tigers. He has a 2.08 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and has allowed just ten hits, walked five, and struck out 13 opposing hitters for the Tigers in Lakeland.

The issue is that Boyd has been on the downturn since the summer of 2019 after the All-Star Break when things took a turn south in terms of Boyd’s performance. In last year’s 60-game sprint season, Boyd logged 12 total starts where he had a 3-7 record.

Boyd posted a 6.71 ERA, a 1.48 WHIP, and allowed 67 hits with 15 being home runs over 60.1 innings pitched. He allowed 45 earned runs during that time as well, however, he did strike out 60 opposing hitters.

Frankly, the Spring Training numbers have not been terrible, but they are not a full indicator that Boyd will find success in the big leagues in 2021. Not that someone like Turnbull deserved the opening day job, but still. Boyd definitely was the likeliest choice and is not really a shock to fans.

However, giving someone like Turnbull this vote of confidence might have helped him as Turnbull looks to emerge as a true big-league starter and be consistent over the course of the 2021 season. Instead, the Tigers rolled with what they know in the form of Boyd.

April 1st they will kick things off against Cleveland and Boyd will be on the bump hoping to get the Tigers a win to start off the 2021 season.