Former Tigers pitcher dominates in comeback 2024 debut with division-rival Guardians

Matthew Boyd's cumulative eight years as a Tiger were tumultuous, to say the least. His 2018 and 2019 seasons were his best in Detroit. In 2018, he set a career-high in innings pitched with 170 1/3 and quickly set a new personal best the next year, with 15 more innings. In 2019, he seemed to only operate in extremes, with a ridiculous strikeout rate (11.6/9 IP) that made him the first lefty Tigers starter to rack up 200 strikeouts since 1974 ... but he also allowed a league-leading amount of home runs allowed with 39.

The Tigers non-tendered him following the 2021 season after he only managed to make 15 starts while dealing with multiple injuries. He bounced around to the Giants and Mariners in 2022, though he never made a start for the Giants and only appeared in relief for the Mariners.

For some reason, the Tigers decided to bring him back on a one-year deal 2023, but the injuries persisted; he made 15 starts and logged a 5.45 ERA before spraining his UCL and undergoing Tommy John surgery. He hit free agency at the end of the season, and remained there until late June of this year before a division rival decided to take a chance on him.

He made his first start for the Guardians on Tuesday, pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up just three hits and one earned run.

Former Tigers ace Matthew Boyd made his season debut for the Guardians on Tuesday

One good start definitely isn't enough for Tigers fans to wish that Detroit had brought him back this year; his time in Detroit was marked by weird season after weird season and then injury after injury. However, it does poke a sore spot for Tigers fans that he managed to bounce back like this for a division rival who's definitely postseason-bound after never really being able to give the Tigers a solid year despite the team taking chances on him time and time again.

To be fair, Boyd was playing for some of the worst Tigers teams in franchise history. The 2019 Tigers lost 114 games and put up the team's second-worst record ever, and the 2017-2018 Tigers are tied for eighth-worst. He undoubtedly contributed to that on some level, but the rest of those squads were far from equipped to support him.

Ah, well. Boyd's time in Detroit is long over at this point, and the only thing left to do is wish him well. Hopefully he's finally shaken off his penchant for giving up homers.