Boyle had been tearing up Triple-A (1.85 ERA, 96 K's in 73 innings) and was just named both the Rays' Minor League Pitcher of the Month and International League Pitcher of the Month for June. But with Tampa Bay's rotation fully stocked and healthy, he had made only one spot start for the Major League club on April 13, when he was hitless over five-plus innings against the Braves. In Sunday afternoon's 7-5 win over the Twins in 10 innings, Boyle tossed five innings in relief, allowing one unearned run while striking out seven.
Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, who picked up the win on Sunday when Tampa Bay rallied for three runs in the 10th inning, recited the cumulative stats (three unearned runs on two hits and three walks, with 14 strikeouts in 10 frames) for Boyle’s first two outings with the club and shook his head.
“That's pretty good,” Fairbanks said wryly. “You know, I think if you keep on that trend, you might end up with a pretty good career. We're excited to watch the guy throw, and it's always electric whenever he's out there.”
Boyle entered the game in the bottom of the third after the Rays tied it at 1-1 on Taylor Walls’ home run in the top of the frame. In his first inning, Boyle gave up a one-out single to Byron Buxton, followed by a walk to Willi Castro. But he struck out Trevor Larnach and Carlos Correa to end that threat.
Boyle then struck out three of the next six hitters in clean fourth and fifth innings. The only run he gave up came in the sixth inning.
Larnach hit a one-out double -- an opposite-field jam shot that fluttered beyond third baseman Junior Caminero’s reach and landed in the grass in short left field. Boyle struck out Correa again for the second out. Brooks Lee followed with a rocket -- a grounder with an exit velocity of 110.3 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the day. Lee hit it right at second baseman Jose Caballero, but Caballero couldn’t handle the hot shot and was saddled with an error as Larnach scrambled around third and slid home inches ahead of catcher Matt Thaiss’ attempted tag.
No worries. Boyle retired the next four batters in order to close out his second Major League outing of the season. Afterwards, he calmly broke down his performance.
“I'm happy with my product,” he said. “But yeah, I'm looking to hopefully just get more chances.”
When it was suggested that he seemed to be more comfortable with every pitch, Boyle said, “Exposure therapy, right? The longer I'm here, the more used to it you get.”
Boyle should help relieve some stress on the Rays' bullpen, which has struggled lately (8.07 ERA in the past 10 games entering Sunday) and blew a four-run lead on Saturday against Minnesota.
He could continue to piggyback on Drew Rasmussen's starts as a way to help limit Rasmussen's workload as he transitions back to starting in his return from his third major right elbow surgery. Rasmussen started on Sunday, allowing one run on a homer over two innings.
“The organization's been absolutely incredible to me,” Rasmussen said of the caution being taken over his workload. “And so I think it does two things. It lets us get the Joe Boyle Experience, which is electric, and then it also allows me to just stay on routine, as well as limit some of the innings for this year. When they brought the idea to me a couple days ago, it was something I'm on board with, obviously, because I think they are always looking out for my best interests.”
It might be a temporary solution, but for now, everyone in the Rays’ dugout is on board with any plan that gets Boyle on the mound as often as possible.
“He threw the ball really well,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Big fastball, threw some nasty splits and sliders. I mean, you see some unorthodox swings from the stuff that he creates releasing the ball.”