The starters are presented in alphabetical order, and, as always, are written in a No. 2 pencil. Today we’re looking at Matthew Boyd, who had the best year of his career in 2025, throwing 179.2 innings and going 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.091 WHIP, though he did in fact look gassed during the playoffs and didn’t fare as well.
The 35-year-old lefty will venture into the 2026 season on the strength of the 2.5 bWAR (3.4 fWAR) he amassed during that previous season, where he’s likely to throw a few less innings and occupy a spot from 1-4 in the everyday rotation. To expect numbers like 2025 would be folly… but something between that and his late-teens work in Detroit would be fine. Win 10-11 games, throw 160+ innings, hurl @8 K/9, keep the team in the game.
Boyd and Taillon are probably 4-5, with Cabrera, Imanaga, Horton or some other combination of the three at the top, awaiting the return of Justin Steele. But Craig Counsell may have other ideas.
Boyd does have an option for 2027, with a $2 million buyout. Given his age and high odds of regression or injury, that’s a good deal. We’ll see if it’s time to roll the dice by season’s end. He doesn’t really have a lot of mileage on that arm and might be good for a bit.