Arlington, Texas: Matthew Boyd’s recuperation and rehabilitation from flexor tendon surgery in 2021 took slightly longer than a year.
He is now going to have to start a much more difficult, laborious, and time-consuming process nine months later.
The Tigers declared on Tuesday that Boyd will undergo Tommy John surgery to fix his left arm’s ulnar collateral ligament. 15 starts into his season, it’s over.
Just before meeting with the media, manager AJ Hinch said of Boyd, “Matt is clear-headed about it.” It’s disappointing for both of us and him. But he has to move on to the next challenge, and our rotation clearly needs to change course.
Receiving this news as one of your players does is a horrible feeling. After surgery, he will now be committed to becoming a better version of himself.
After Tommy John surgery, recovery usually takes 12 to 18 months. Boyd, 32, has a $10 million, one-year deal with the Tigers. A final date for the surgery has not been set. Boyd stayed out of the press.
Hinch remarked, “This guy has been really healthy his entire career until recently.” He pitched in a lot of innings and had some excellent runs. I’ve watched him put a lot of effort into recovering from one injury, and now he’s got another one. I’m sorry for him. He’s a fantastic guy who will work extremely hard and return.
However,
Between 2017 and 2019, Boyd started 88 games, pitched 490.2 innings, and struck out 507 Tigers batters. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he made all 12 of his starts. After making 15 starts in 2021, when the arm problems initially surfaced, he was off to a great start.
Boyd threw his 15th pitch of the game in the first inning on Monday, and he felt pain in his elbow.
