Detroit Tigers: Can Matt Boyd help end Tigers’ losing streak?

The Detroit Tigers fell to the Oakland A’s 7-2 at Comerica Park on Friday night, extending Detroit’s current losing streak to five games in a row.

Friday night’s loss brought the Detroit Tigers’ record in the month of May to 5-11 and was their fifth consecutive loss in a week the whole team would sure like to soon forget. Now, lefty Matt Boyd gets the start on the mound for the Tigers on Saturday in the third game of a four-game series against Oakland.

Boyd has emerged as the clear standout arm in the starting rotation for the Detroit Tigers this year. The 28-year-old is 4-3 through his first nine starts on the season with a 3.15 ERA and 65 total strikeouts.

The left-hander was extremely hot right out of the gate in 2019, striking out 23 batters in just his first two starts of the year. Since then, the punchout numbers have cooled down a bit for Boyd, but with the Tigers’ starting rotation in a bad way, he, along with Spencer Turnbull, is the best the team has to offer on the mound right now.

Last time out for Boyd, however, was his weakest start of the season so far. On Monday against the Houston Astros, Boyd lasted just four innings and surrendered three earned runs on five hits and only managed to K two Houston batters.

As a lefty, Boyd could face a bit of a challenge going up against an Oakland lineup that tends to be dominated by right-handed hitters. So far this year against righty batters, Boyd has allowed opponents a .215 BA and has allowed 13 extra base bits to 178 batters. Overall, Boyd has held pretty strong against righties on the mound.

The current Detroit Tigers starting rotation is a mash-up of mid-level starters and minor league call ups due to a fair amount of injuries taking out some of the regulars on the mound. With the Tigers in desperate need of a rebound game, having Boyd on the mound for Saturday could certainly help, but still, he needs Detroit’s offense to offer some assistance.