Boyd hopes to hasten learning curve in final starts
Kansas City, Mo. — There is a chance Tigers rookie left-hander Matt Boyd made, if not his final start of the season Thursday, certainly one of his final two.
He entered Thursday’s game against the Royals having thrown a career-high 1511/3 innings. Manager Brad Ausmus hasn’t imposed a strict innings cap, but it’s doubtful the team would let him pitch much more than 170 innings.
“He’s getting close to the number of innings,” Ausmus said. “But we’re not going to stop him for performance. If he doesn’t pitch well, he’s still going to pitch.”
Boyd has pitched well at times and been roughed up at times — often in the same game. He’s given up 13 runs and 18 hits (including six home runs) his last three starts.
“He doesn’t seem to get rattled,” Ausmus said. “As a general statement, I think kids who are drafted out of college tend to be more mature. Even when he’s getting hit, he doesn’t press. He just continues to pitch.”
Prior to Thursday, Boyd had accumulated some odd statistical splits. Left-handed batters, for example, were hitting .388 against him with a 1.191 OPS.
“It’s a weird sample size,” Boyd said. “You have to look at it for what it is. If you take out my first two starts (with the Blue Jays) and look at the recent starts — I mean Colby Rasmus got me twice, Mitch Moreland, Eric Hosmer.
“I am still learning guys. Lefties have a better approach against left-handed pitchers up here. It’s nothing I can’t deal with.”
Here’s another one: Opponents were hitting .344 against him when he’s ahead in the count 0-2, and .393 when he’s ahead in the count.
“Oh,” he said. “That’s weird.”
Boyd disputes the notion that he needs to develop a more consistent put-away pitch.
“If you look at my minor league stuff, I got a lot of strikeouts,” he said. “I put guys away when I needed to. I haven’t been the pitcher I know I can be up here, even in my good starts. I haven’t been as consistent as I know I can be.”
Ausmus agreed the problem wasn’t his pitch arsenal.
“It’s part of being a young pitcher,” he said. “Sometimes you have to learn how to put away big league hitters.”
Said Boyd: “I hate to keep saying it, but I am learning. I’m learning what I can and can’t do up here. You can’t change who you are but it’s about finding a good game plan and saying, ‘OK, this is how we’re going to attack these guys.’ ”
Alburquerque says he’s ready
Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque threw a full bullpen session Thursday and said he was ready to return to live action.
He had been shut down for the past nine days with soreness and inflammation in his right hip. An MRI taken Wednesday showed no structural damage.
Ausmus said, barring injury, Alburquerque would be available to pitch against the Indians Friday.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
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Tony Paul contributed
On deck: Indians
Series: Three games, Friday-Sunday, at Comerica Park, Detroit
First pitch: 7:08 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1:08 p.m. Sunday
TV/radio: FSD/97.1
Probables: Friday — RHP Corey Kluber (8-13, 3.41) vs. LHP Kyle Lobstein (3-5, 4.34); Saturday — RHP Josh Tomlin (3-1, 3.08) vs. RHP Alfredo Simon (11-9, 5.09); Sunday — RHP Danny Salazar (12-7, 3.27) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (3-6, 3.40)
Kluber: He leads the AL with 2001/3 innings pitched and 793 batters faced, and you wonder if he is showing some fatigue. After pitched three complete-game gems in four starts in early August, he’s 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA, and allowed six home runs his last three starts. He is 0-2 against the Tigers.
Lobstein: Lobstein is making his first big league start after a four-month stint on the disabled list with a left shoulder injury. He was 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA in six rehab starts. In April, Lobstein beat the Indians, though he gave up eight hits and three runs in five innings.