Detroit Tigers: Matthew Boyd to miss rest of the 2023 season

Detroit Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd to undergo Tommy John surgery.

The Detroit Tigers have certainly not had a whole lot of luck on their side in 2023. Once again, like last season, the team is battling an injury bug that continues to swoop through and wreak havoc on the Tigers' roster.

The latest casualties came during the Detroit Tigers' contest against the Texas Rangers. Matthew Boyd took to the mound as the starter and ultimately had to leave the game early. An errant warm-up pitch made it to the backstop, and Boyd came off the mound, exiting the game with what was deemed elbow discomfort.

After further testing, it was concluded that the Tigers southpaw would have to undergo Tommy John Surgery to replace an issue with his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). The recovery timetable puts him at well over a year and will likely sideline him for almost the entire 2024 season, if not all of it.

Boyd has done what the Tigers have asked of him, eating innings and putting together good starts as a part of the team's rotation. I recently penned a piece about his performance and how some of the metrics have shaken out for the left-handed arm.

In 15 starts for the Tigers, Boyd pitched in 71.0 innings, where he managed a 5.45 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and 25 walks to 73 punchouts. He may have left plenty to be desired early on but was settling in a bit more lately. He was one of the left-handers routinely called upon, and now he will be on the sidelines. There was optimism from the team, but an injury of that magnitude could become a problem for Boyd to stick around as part of the roster.

It's surely a tough blow and not something that Tigers fans want to hear, but after just finishing rehab for flexor tendon surgery that cut his 2021 season short, it will be interesting to see how things pan out for Boyd moving forward, and if he gets a chance to return.

Nonetheless, it's another blow to the rotation. While the team just got Matt Manning back, one pitcher enters the next exit. As if that was not already enough, Will Vest also sustained a lower-body leg injury that could affect him after he had to leave Tuesday night's contest with the Rangers early.

Boyd has been resilient before, so it will be interesting to see what happens, but he certainly has his work cut out for him on a long road and path to recovery.