Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Matthew Boyd remembers being a young pitcher for the Detroit Tigers watching Justin Verlander celebrate 10 years of MLB service. Maybe one day that could be him, he thought.
After years of battling through inconsistency, five different organizations and two elbow surgeries, Boyd reached that milestone on Saturday with the Chicago Cubs after tossing six innings with just one run allowed in a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
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“I’m grateful,” Boyd told MLB.com after the game. “It’s one of those things where you always believe in your heart it’s going to happen, but there were plenty of points where … this would have been something I wasn’t even right to think about. You never thought it would be possible.”
Boyd made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays on June 26, 2015, but was traded to the Tigers nearly a month later. He logged a career-high 185.1 innings and 238 strikeouts in 2019, but then came five straight seasons in which he tallied fewer than 80 innings (2020 was shortened due to the COVID pandemic). Detroit decided to move on after the 2021 season.
He signed with the San Francisco Giants for 2022, but never appeared for the team as he recovered from forearm flexor tendon surgery. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners in August of that season, making 10 appearances out of the bullpen.
The left-hander returned to the Tigers for the 2023 season, but eight years to the day that he made his debut, he was pulled from a game due to elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed with a partial sprain of his UCL and would undergo Tommy John surgery.
In a devotional Boyd wrote for the Spring 2024 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine, he opened up about the emotional and spiritual toll of his injury journey. Yet, despite the uncertainty and frustration, he found peace and perseverance in his faith in God.
“I trust God and know He has good things planned for me,” he wrote. “I know He’s got me and I’m His handiwork. … I believe my best baseball is ahead of me. I still believe I’m going to win a World Series and be one of the best starting pitchers in this game.”
After spending 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians, where he made eight starts, the 35-year-old has seemingly found a home with the Cubs. He earned his first All-Star Game selection in 2025 and ended the season with a 3.21 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 179.2 innings pitched.
He entered 2026 with high expectations, and was part of the Team USA squad that won the silver medal at the World Baseball Classic in March. But the injury bug bit once again — first with an arm injury in April, then a fluky knee injury in May where he tore his meniscus while sitting down to play with his kids.
But he returned June 25 and is 4-0 since, and 6-1 on the year for the Cubs, with a 4.15 ERA and 51 strikeouts. The Cubs are second in the National League Central division, currently hold the top wild-card spot, and Boyd’s return could be key to a playoff run. As he celebrated the 10-year mark, he’s just grateful to be back on the field.
“I’m grateful for the people that have believed in me along the way, from the Jays giving me my shot, the Tigers trading for me and giving me all that opportunity, to the Mariners, the Giants, the Guardians,” Boyd told MLB.com. “And the Cubbies for believing in me now. And all the coaches and teammates along the way. That’s not something you can do on your own.”
Both on and off the field, Boyd is outspoken about his faith. And he and his wife, Ashley, have put that faith into action through their ministry, Kingdom Home, which “exists to provide a safe home for children at risk of entering child sex slavery,” according to their website. The ministry seeks to meet “all of their needs” and promises that each child is “being raised up with the love of Jesus Christ.”
“I talk about the numerous times in Scripture where it talks about to care for the widowed and the fatherless, and Jesus just met people in community,” Boyd said in November on Sports Spectrum’s “Get in the Game” podcast. “He met people in relationship. So when you think about those things and you think about those who are vulnerable, who maybe don’t have a voice because of whatever reason, you need to champion for them. You need to be there for them. You need to step up.”
Boyd says everything he does is guided by his faith in Christ.
“I’m saved by Jesus, and everything that has happened from the large things like baseball and Kingdom Home and marriage and kids, to the smallest little intricacies, it’s all Him,” he said on the podcast. “He guides our paths. Our heart has its own motives, but it’s the Lord who directs our paths.”
Boyd is set to take the mound again Friday on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 6:40 p.m. ET.
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