The Cleveland Indians have signed 24-year old left handed pitcher Ty Boyles to a minor league contract and will report to minor league camp.
The Cleveland Indians continue to adds pitching options into their organization. Their most recent signing? 24-year old left hander Ty Boyles. Boyles originally was a starter during his seven-year run with the Cincinnati Reds, but made a transition to relief pitcher last year.
Ty Boyles came out of the bullpen 47 times during the 2019 season. Boyles finished with a 4.36 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 66 innings of work with the Chattanooga Lookouts, Cincinnati’s AA affiliate.
Boyles did also spend some time in the Puerto Rican Winter League with Indios de Mayaugez. Things were not much better for Boyles in Puerto Rico. In 11 games Boyles had an ERA of 5.63 and a WHIP of 2.000. Boyle’s strikeouts were up while in Puerto Rico (from 8.7 in AA to 11.3 in Puerto Rico), but that may not be an accurate indicator of his stuff.
This could be a case of the Indians seeing something they like in Ty Boyles that may not being used properly. Sometimes all it takes is a different approach for a pitcher to take a step forward.
This could also be Cleveland taking a flier on a bullpen arm just because they can. Spring Training is the time of year that teams often just sign guys like Boyles to see what they have to offer. Sometimes they unearth a gem, other times there is still a reason they are available. Cleveland will find out soon enough under which category Boyles belongs to.
