Tigers Matt Boyd: Trusting him during championship week?

Matt Boyd has heated up as of late for the Tigers. But, with fantasy championships on the line, is he worth a waiver wire add?

Those fantasy owners that are still left alive are lucky. It means they have survived the grueling MLB season to make the fantasy championship. Now with titles on the line, a pitcher with an ERA north of five does not seem like a trustable option. But, could the Tigers’ Matt Boyd be worth it?

Matt Boyd has actually amassed over 50 starts at the major league level. He holds a career 5.41 ERA over 284 innings of work. He entered the 2017 season with some fantasy sleeper potential.

Unfortunately, he was just too inconsistent and too prone to blowups to be trusted outside of April. Yet, since the season has winded down to Sep., Boyd has been one of the best pitchers in the league.

Over his five starts this month, he has posted a 1.99 ERA/25 K/7 ER line over five starts. None of his starts were more impressive than his near no-hit bid against the White Sox that was broken up in the ninth inning.

If you take his one dud start out of the equation, 6 IP/4 ER versus the Royals, he has 25 innings of near lights out ball. He has also limited his walks, only three over his last three starts, a welcome sign that he is figuring something out on the mound at the end of the year.

For his last start of the season, he gets the Twins. His last start came against those same Twins, in which he was able to limit them to only four hits and two earned runs over six innings.

With Boyd now pounding the zone, generating season highs in strikes and strikes looking, fantasy owners should be more than willing to roll the dice on Boyd for one more start.

Next: Braves extend Kurt Suzuki: Fantasy fallout?

The fantasy appeal is still there. He still has four pitches in his arsenal, yet his command woes were leading to him getting rocked. Now that he righted those woes over the last handful of starts, the potential and his raw stuff are shining through again.

Trust Matt Boyd.