In relinquishing control, Rays’ Joe Boyle gained command of his career

DETROIT — Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe was grabbing coffee near the team hotel Monday when he bumped into Joe Boyle and was struck by one of the things that makes the pitcher unique.

“He’s one of the most relaxed guys I feel like I’ve ever talked to,” Lowe said later.

Boyle didn’t seem any different Monday than he did Sunday after being called up from Triple-A Durham to pitch against the Twins in Minneapolis, Lowe said.

“I know that there is a thought of like, ‘Oh, I’m good, and I know I’m good.’ But it doesn’t radiate like that,” Lowe said. “It’s just that’s who Joe Boyle is. He’s low motor and gifted with electricity in his arm.”

Boyle, 25, always has had the stuff.

That was evident when he was coming out of North Oldham High, near Louisville, and opted out of the 2017 MLB draft because he wanted to play college ball.

Boyle enrolled at Notre Dame, where coach Link Jarrett (now at Florida State) noted Boyle’s diligence, intelligence, studiousness and competitiveness, and got a glimpse of what he could become.

“Watching him try to unpack the talent that he had — I knew right away he was a great person, tremendously uber-talented — and I saw where this could potentially go,” Jarrett said.

Boyle was a fifth-round draft pick of the Reds in 2020. He advanced to Double-A Chattanooga, then was traded to the A’s (for reliever Sam Moll) in July 2023.

After working his way to the majors with mixed results (a 5-6 record and 5.23 ERA in 16 games, allowing 99 baserunners over 63 ⅔ innings), Boyle was traded again in December to the Rays (with two minor-leaguers and the No. 42 pick in Sunday’s draft for Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez).

“Joe’s always had front-of-the-rotation stuff,” A’s assistant general manager Dan Feinstein said. “And it was really just a matter of time until he put it all together.”

Boyle knew it, too, and he flashed that talent at times.

But he also dealt with failures and frustrations until eventually — after many conversations and some deep thought — he realized what was holding him back.

“Things would spiral,” Boyle said. “My whole life, I’d struggle with being consistent. That was my thing. I had all the tools up until college, I had all the tools into pro ball, but it was lacking consistency.”

Boyle said there was no single conversation or seminal moment, just a matter of changing his mindset.

“If I focused on things within my control, I could be proud of the effort I put in that day. No matter what the results are,” he said.

“I had learn to accept that. You have to learn to give up the illusion of control. That’s what it is. We all have this illusion of control over our lives. And as soon as you let that go, I think that things feel more peaceful and the lows don’t feel so low.”

That line of thinking is what allowed Boyle to maintain his focus on pitching well — consistently — for Durham through the first half of this season rather than let whatever frustrations he had over not being called up (save for a spot start in April) affect him.

Boyle said he appreciated the chance to come up and pitch Sunday, working five impressive innings behind Drew Rasmussen (whose workload is being limited for at least a few turns). He will do so again Friday and potentially get to stick around for the stretch run in some role.

“I was just ready,” Boyle said. “I’d just keep putting my head down and working hard and just waiting for them to tell me where to go, not focusing on things outside of my control.”

Pitching coach Kyle Snyder said that attitude is just important as the impressive physical things Boyle does on the mound.

Being very interested and open to the Rays’ analytical data, as well as taking their advice to condense his repertoire to three pitches (four-seam fastball, slider, split change-up) has allowed Boyle to dominate at Durham, where he posted a 1.85 ERA over 15 games. He struck out 96 batters while allowing 41 hits and 31 walks over 73 innings.

“The way he’s handled the fact that he’s performed so well down there without an opportunity up here, I can’t speak enough to just the fact that he’s not let that affect him,” Snyder said.

“We’re all human beings. You want your opportunity as much as the next guy. But the five guys in our rotation have performed. I think these next couple of weeks give him an opportunity to show what he’s capable of. And he certainly did that (Sunday), and he’s definitely motivated to do whatever he can to help this team going forward and, ideally, into October.”

Boyle’s numbers over his two big-league outings this season are good indicators: 10 innings, 0 earned runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts.

Boyle knows from experience the challenge is maintaining consistency, which he expects to result from more opportunities to face big-league hitters — what he calls “exposure therapy.”

That may sound a bit out there, but Boyle said it’s “a simple” concept.

“The thing that is difficult, or that you struggle with, doing it more, you’re going to just naturally get better at it. We all will,” he said.

“It takes a while, though, and there’s a lot of failure in it. You saw my year last year, there’s a lot of that. I’m sure that failures are going to continue to pop up. I’m just looking to embrace them and learn from them, and get better.”

Jarrett said the Rays and the rest of MLB are seeing now what he expected.

“Nothing Joe’s doing now surprises us,” said Feinstein, of the A’s. “And we couldn’t be happier for the success he’s enjoyed this season, and hope it continues.”

Rays players are enjoying the show, which Rasmussen has dubbed “The Joe Boyle Experience.”

Between Boyle’s 6-foot-8 frame, his delivery, the 100 mph velocity on his fastball, and the nasty movement on the slider and split-change (which Snyder compares to Pirates star Paul Skenes’ notorious “splinker”), there’s a lot to be impressed by.

Rasmussen and fellow pitcher Ryan Pepiot called it “electric.” Snyder used the word “thunder.”

Lowe had the best description.

“It just looks like a guy that’s up there throwing Wiffle balls, but for some reason it’s moving at 100 (mph). … It’s fun to watch. And you kind of feel bad for some guys.”

Today

at Tigers, 1:10 TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun, WTOG-Ch. 44; 95.3-FM, 620-AM

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In relinquishing control, Rays’ Joe Boyle gained command of his career

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